Podcasts about East Indies

Last time we spoke about the Great Tokyo Air Raid. Amidst fierce battles, Liversedge's forces captured key hills but faced relentless Japanese machine-gun fire. Despite heavy casualties, the Marines advanced, securing strategic positions. General Kuribayashi recognized their struggle, while the Japanese counterattacks faltered. After 19 grueling days, the last pockets of resistance fell, marking a costly victory for the Americans. Amid the fierce battle of Iwo Jima, General LeMay shifted tactics, launching incendiary raids on Tokyo. On March 9, 1945, 334 B-29s unleashed destruction, igniting widespread fires and devastating neighborhoods. The attack shattered Japanese morale, while LeMay's strategy proved effective, paving the way for further offensives in the Pacific. On March 3, three brigades attacked Meiktila, facing fierce resistance. Tanks overwhelmed Japanese forces, resulting in heavy casualties. As Cowan fortified defenses, Japanese counterattacks intensified. Meanwhile, in Mandalay, British-Indian troops advanced, capturing key positions. Amidst confusion and conflicting orders, the Allies pressed forward, striving for victory in Burma. This episode is the Fall of Mandalay Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  We are first picking up this week with the men fighting over northern Luzon. By March 5, General Clarkson's 33rd Division had advanced to Agoo and Pago while gradually pushing the enemy along Route 11. Meanwhile, Colonel Volckmann's guerrilla force was carrying out limited offensives in the Laoag, Cervantes, and San Fernando regions. Coming into Salacsac Pass from the west, the Villa Verde Trail twists up the wooded western slopes of a steep-sided height known to the 32nd Division as Hill 502. Another peak, bare crested, forming part of the same hill mass and named Hill 503, centers 250 yards northeast of the crest of Hill 502, while a similar distance to the southeast is Hill 504. Winding along the southern slopes of Hills 502 and 504, the trail continues eastward through a low saddle about 500 yards long, climbing again up the forested northwestern side of Hill 505. After crossing that hill, the trail follows a twisting course 600 yards--as the crow flies--eastward, hugging the densely wooded northern slopes of Hills 506A and 506B. Off the northeast corner of Hill 506B the trail turns south for 1000 yards--again a straight-line distance--and traverses the east side of the noses of Hill 507, designated from north to south A, B, C and D. Turning sharply east again near Hill 507D, the trail continues east another 700 yards and then enters a deep wooded saddle between Hill 508 on the south and Hill 515 to the north. After passing through this saddle, which is about 250 yards long east to west, the trail goes on eastward, dominated on the north by Hills 516 and 525. Roughly 1250 yards beyond the saddle the trail twists across the northern slopes of Hill 526, which lying about 500 yards southeast of Hill 525, marks the eastern limits of the Salacsac Pass area. A mile and a quarter of less rugged but still forested and difficult terrain lies between Hill 526 and barrio Imugan, in turn two and a quarter miles west of Santa Fe.  Meanwhile General Mullins' 25th Division had successfully taken control of Puncan and Digdig. Due to this unexpectedly swift progress, General Swift instructed Mullins to continue advancing toward Putlan while the 1st Battalion, 127th Regiment fought for control of Hill 502, which was secured on March 7. In response, Mullins dispatched the 161st Regiment to attack the high ground west of Route 5, the 27th Regiment to advance along and east of the highway, and the 35th Regiment to execute a wide envelopment to the east. Since this last flank approach to Putlan was completely undefended, the 1st Battalion, 35th Regiment quickly occupied Putlan on March 8. The following day, the 27th Regiment also arrived in the area and began clearing Japanese stragglers from the ravines east of Route 5 near the barrio, a task that would not be finished until March 15. Finally, despite facing rough terrain and light resistance, the 161st Regiment reached Putlan on March 10, successfully securing the high ground to the west. To the north, as the 1st Battalion, 127th Regiment struggled to make significant progress eastward after capturing Hill 502, Gill decided to send the 3rd Battalion, 127th Regiment to outflank the Salacsac Pass defenses from the south.  Although the extremely rough, precipitous mountain country of the Salacsac Pass area, averaging 4500 feet above sea level, was covered by dense rainforest, from Hill 506B to Hill 526, there was sufficient open ground throughout to provide the defender with excellent observation. It was not too difficult for the Japanese to find positions whence they could cover with fire every square foot of the Villa Verde Trail through the pass area. The twisting of the trail also provided defense opportunities, for in a given 1000 yards of straight-line distance through the pass, the trail might actually cover a ground distance of 3000 yards. Whatever its shortcomings in other fields, the Japanese Army always had a feel for terrain, exploiting to the full every advantage the ground offered. Thus, as it moved up, the 2nd Tank Division set to work to establish a system of mutually supporting defensive positions in order to control every twist of the Villa Verde Trail and every fold in the ground throughout the pass area. Every knoll and hillock on or near the trail was the site of at least one machine gun emplacement; every wooded draw providing a route for outflanking a position was zeroed in for artillery or mortars. The cave, natural or man-made, came to characterize the defenses. Artillery was employed in quantity and quality not often encountered in engagements against the Japanese, who, as usual, made excellent use of their light and medium mortars. Finally, the 2nd Tank Division was overstocked in automatic weapons, evidently having available many more than the 32nd Division could bring to bear. To the west, following recent successes in patrols, Clarkson opted to establish a new "secure line" stretching from Aringay southeast through Pugo to Route 11 at Twin Peaks. Consequently, patrols quickly secured Aringay and Caba without facing any opposition, then advanced east along the trails to Pugo and Galiano, and north to Bauang, where they continued to encounter minimal enemy presence. As a result of these movements, the Hayashi Detachment was ultimately withdrawn to bolster the main defenses at Sablan, enabling Volckman's 121st Regiment to enter San Fernando on March 14. Additionally, elements of the 19th Division began arriving in the Cervantes area from Baguio and successfully expelled the guerrilla company from the town in early March. The Filipinos recaptured Cervantes on March 13 but soon found themselves targeted by Japanese artillery positioned on elevated ground. Meanwhile, looking south, by March 5, General Patrick's 6th Division had commenced unsuccessful assaults on Mounts Pacawagan and Mataba, while General Hoffman's 2nd Cavalry Brigade struggled to advance toward the Antipolo area. Recognizing that the success of his attack required a concentration of forces along a narrower front, General Griswold decided to focus on the Noguchi Force and the left flank of the Kobayashi Force, as the northern area was heavily fortified. He retained only one battalion as an infantry reserve and directed the remainder of his available forces, all of which were understrength, to push eastward. Alongside the deployment of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, the 103rd Regiment reached Taytay on March 7 to serve as the 1st Cavalry Division Reserve, signaling the upcoming relief of the cavalrymen in preparation for their redeployment to southern Luzon. By March 10, General Wing's 43rd Division had been replaced in the Clark Field area by the 38th Division and was en route to the eastern front.  The 38th Division pushed on into the untracked, ill-explored, and worse-mapped wilderness of the central Zambales Range, its progress slowed more by supply problems than Japanese resistance. In early April the division noted that the last vestiges of any controlled defensive effort had disappeared. Unknown to 11th Corps General Tsukada, on April 6, had given up and had ordered his remaining forces to disperse and continue operations, if possible, as guerrillas. For the Japanese remnants, it was a case of sauve qui peut. Some tried to escape to Luzon's west coast, whence 38th Division troops were already patrolling inland; others tried to make their way north through the mountains, only to be cut down by American patrols working southward from Camp O'Donnell. The 38th Division had killed about 8000 of the scattering Japanese by the time it was relieved by units of the 6th Division on May 3. The losses of the 38th totaled approximately 100 men killed and 500 wounded. The 6th Division, elements of which remained in the Kembu area until June 25, limited its operations to patrolling and setting up trail blocks along Japanese routes of escape. Troops of the 38th Division ultimately returned to the region and remained there until the end of the war. Insofar as US forces were concerned, the mop-up period under 11th Corps control was even more costly than had been the 14th Corps' offensive period. From February 21 to the end of June the various elements of 11th Corps committed to action against the Kembu Group lost approximately 550 men killed and 2200 wounded. The Kembu Group, during the same period, lost 12500 killed or dead from starvation and disease. By the end of the war the original 30000 troops of the Kembu Group were reduced to approximately 1500 sorry survivors, about 1000 of them Army personnel. Another 500 had already been taken prisoner. As a result, General Tsukada ordered his remaining troops to scatter and operate as guerrillas. Meanwhile, Griswold resumed his eastern offensive on March 8. In the south, bolstered by artillery and mortars, the battered 2nd Cavalry Brigade continued to advance slowly under heavy artillery fire, reaching a point 440 yards short of Antipolo along Route 60A and overcoming the enemy cave defenses at Benchmark 11. By March 11, patrols had entered Antipolo, discovering the town was devastated and deserted, yet still under the threat of Japanese artillery and mortars positioned in the hills to the north and northeast. Simultaneously, the 1st Cavalry Brigade made significant strides to the north, also coming within 440 yards of Antipolo while clearing Benchmark 9 Hill and Hills 520 and 740. Abandoning the Montalban-San Mateo area, Patrick instructed the 1st and 20th Regiments to advance toward Mounts Baytangan and Yabang. Facing unexpectedly light resistance, the 1st Regiment advanced a mile and a half east by March 11 and secured Benchmark 8 Hill to the south despite encountering stubborn opposition. Recognizing the need to capitalize on this success, Patrick then ordered the 20th Regiment to move through the 1st and attack north toward Wawa Dam while the latter continued its eastward assault. On March 11, the 103rd Regiment took over from the 2nd Cavalry Brigade and quickly began planning to outflank General Noguchi's defenses located southeast of Antipolo. However, due to concerns over American advances, General Yokoyama ordered the Noguchi Force to retreat to secondary defensive positions while preparing for a three-pronged counterattack set for March 12. The primary effort involved four reserve battalions from the Kobayashi Force, which launched an attack southward from Mount Mataba toward Marikina but were quickly halted by intense air and artillery fire, falling far short of their target. Additionally, the 182nd Independent Battalion attempted a counterattack toward Benchmark 8 but was unsuccessful, while the majority of the Kawashima Force advanced south from the Ipo Dam area to assault the rear installations of the 6th Division west of the Marikina River, where they were easily repelled by March 15. During this so-called counterattack, Griswold continued his offensive, with the 103rd Regiment swiftly advancing through the deserted Antipolo to Benchmark 7 Hill, and the 20th Regiment moving over a mile north to secure a position on a grassy ridge less than a mile southeast of Mount Mataba's summit. On March 14, the 1st Regiment resumed its eastern assault, successfully advancing north to a bare peak about a mile southwest of Mount Baytangan, despite facing strong resistance that caused heavy casualties, including the loss of General Patrick, who was succeeded by Brigadier-General Charles Hurdis as commander of the 6th Division. Simultaneously, Wing initiated a coordinated offensive with two regiments toward Mounts Yabang, Caymayuman, and Tanauan, aiming to flank the Shimbu Group's left. Although the 103rd and 179th Regiments achieved significant progress that day, Noguchi's determined defenders managed to maintain control of Benchmark 7. Looking further south, Griswold was preparing to launch a two-pronged offensive in southern Luzon. General Swing's 511th Parachute Regiment and the 187th Glider Regiment were set to advance towards Lipa from the north and northwest, while the 158th Regiment gathered near Nasugbu to attack southeast along Route 17 toward Balayan Bay. In response, Colonel Fujishige's Fuji Force had established several small positions in the area to prevent American forces from flanking the Shimbu Group's main defenses by rounding the eastern shore of Laguna de Bay. Swing's offensive commenced on March 7, with the 187th Glider Regiment descending the steep southern slopes of Tagaytay Ridge to the northern shore of Lake Taal, ultimately stopping at a hill two miles west of Tanauan due to strong resistance. The 511th Parachute Regiment moved out from Real, reaching within a mile of Santo Tomas while launching unsuccessful frontal assaults on Mount Bijiang. Meanwhile, the 158th Regiment advanced from Nasugbu, quickly securing Balayan before pushing eastward with little opposition toward Batangas, which fell on March 11. On its eastward path, the regiment bypassed significant elements of the 2nd Surface Raiding Base Force on the Calumpan Peninsula, necessitating that a battalion clear that area by March 16. At the same time, other units of the 158th Regiment encountered robust Japanese defenses blocking Route 417 at Mount Macolod, where their advance came to a halt. Concurrently, General Eichelberger continued his offensive against the central islands of the Visayan Passages, with reinforced companies from the 1st Battalion, 19th Regiment successfully landing on Romblon and Simara islands on March 11 and 12, respectively. Most importantly for Eichelberger, he was about to initiate his Visayas Campaign. To disrupt Japanese communication lines across the South China Sea, the 8th Army needed to quickly capture airfields that would allow the Allied Air Forces to project land-based air power over the waters west of the Philippines more effectively than from Clark Field or Mindoro. Consequently, the first target chosen was Palawan, which was defended by only two reinforced companies from the 102nd Division. Additionally, MacArthur's strategy included the eventual reoccupation of the East Indies, starting with the capture of Japanese-controlled oil resources in northern Borneo as soon as land-based air support was available. The Zamboanga Peninsula and the Sulu Archipelago were identified as the second targets, although these areas were defended by stronger garrisons from the 54th and 55th Independent Mixed Brigades. Despite this, Eichelberger tasked Major-General Jens Doe's 41st Division with executing these invasions. For the Palawan invasion, codenamed Operation Victor III, Brigadier-General Harold Haney was appointed to lead a force primarily composed of the 186th Regiment, which would be transported to the island by Admiral Fechteler's Task Group 78.2. The convoy departed from Mindoro on February 26, escorted by Rear-Admiral Ralph Riggs' cruisers and destroyers. Following a naval bombardment, Haney's Palawan Force successfully landed at Puerto Princesa on February 28 without encountering any opposition. They quickly secured the town and the two airstrips to the east, advancing to the western and southern shores of the harbor by late afternoon to establish a defensive perimeter. As the first day progressed, it became clear to the American troops that the Japanese troops would not put up a fight at Puerto Princesa and had withdrawn into the hills to the northwest. More disturbing was the revelation of a massacre of approximately 140 American prisoners of war the previous December. The presence of a passing Allied convoy made the alarmed Japanese believe that an invasion was imminent and had herded their prisoners into air-raid shelters, subsequently setting the shelters afire and shooting prisoners who tried to escape. Only 11 American prisoners of war miraculously survived immolation and escaped the shooting. Sheltered by natives until the Americans landed, they emerged during the battle to tell their horrifying tale, which only hardened American resolve to end Japanese rule over the island. By March 1, the 186th Regiment had successfully taken control of Irahuan and Tagburos. In the following week, American forces would eliminate two or three heavily defended strongholds located ten miles north-northwest of Puerto Princesa, where the enemy garrison was ultimately defeated. The Palawan Force also conducted reconnaissance of several offshore islets, discovering no Japanese presence on some and swiftly clearing others. However, due to the poorly compacted soil, the new airfield on the island would not be operational until March 20, which was too late for any aircraft based in Palawan to assist with the Zamboanga landings. Consequently, on March 8, two reinforced companies from the 21st Regiment were flown to the airstrip at Dipolog, which had been secured by Colonel Hipolito Garma's guerrilla 105th Division. On the same day, sixteen Marine Corsairs arrived to provide air support for the invasion of Zamboanga, codenamed Operation Victor IV. For this operation, Doe assigned the remainder of his division, which was to be transported by Rear-Admiral Forrest Royal's Task Group 78.1. After three days of pre-assault bombardments and minesweeping, the convoy finally set sail southward and entered Basilan Strait from the west early on March 10. Troops from the 162nd Regiment landed almost without opposition around 09:15 near barrio San Mateo and quickly secured Wolfe Field, while the 163rd Regiment was also landing. Doe's two regiments then began to advance inland, facing minimal resistance as they established a night perimeter. With the Japanese having withdrawn, the 162nd and 163rd Regiments easily secured Zamboanga City, San Roque Airfield, and the rest of the coastal plain by dusk on March 11, with one company extending further to Caldera Bay to the west. To drive the Japanese forces from the elevated positions overlooking the airfield, Doe dispatched the 162nd Regiment towards Mount Capisan and the 163rd Regiment towards Mount Pulungbata. Additionally, the guerrilla 121st Regiment was tasked with blocking the east coast road in the Belong area. Supported by continuous artillery fire and close air support from Marine Corps planes, the two regiments of the 41st Division faced arduous tasks. General Hojo's troops held excellent defenses in depth across a front 5 miles wide, some portions of the line being 3 miles deep. All installations were protected by barbed wire; abandoned ground was thoroughly booby-trapped; mine fields, some of them of the remote-control type, abounded; and at least initially the 54th Independent Mixed Brigade had an ample supply of automatic weapons and mortars. While Japanese morale on the Zamboanga Peninsula was not on a par with that of 14th Area Army troops on Luzon, most of the 54th Independent Mixed Brigade and attached units had sufficient spirit to put up a strong fight as long as they held prepared positions, and Hojo was able to find men to conduct harassing counterattacks night after night. Finally, the terrain through which the 41st Division had to attack was rough and overgrown, giving way on the north to the rain forests of the partially unexplored mountain range forming the backbone of the Zamboanga Peninsula. Only poor trails existed in most of the area held by the Japanese, and the 41st Division had to limit its advance to the pace of bulldozers, which laboriously constructed supply and evacuation roads. Once the American troops entered the peninsula's foothills, tanks could not operate off the bulldozed roads. The next day, the 186th Regiment was deployed to relieve the fatigued 163rd Regiment on the eastern front. By the end of the month, it had expanded the front eastward and northward against diminishing resistance, ultimately forcing Hojo's forces to retreat into the rugged interior of the peninsula. For now, however, we will shift our focus from the Philippines to Burma to continue our coverage of the Chinese-British-Indian offensives. As we last observed, General Stopford's 33rd Corps was aggressively advancing into Mandalay against a weakened 15th Army, while General Cowan's 17th Indian Division had successfully captured Meiktila and was preparing to withstand the combined assaults of the 18th and 49th Divisions. Cowan's forces conducted a robust defense, managing to delay the arrival of the 49th Division until March 18 and successfully repelling General Naka's initial attacks on Meiktila's main airfield. Furthermore, with the reserve 5th Indian Division moving closer to the front in preparation for an advance towards Rangoon, General Slim decided to airlift the 9th Brigade to reinforce Cowan's troops, which landed on Meiktila's main airfield under enemy fire between March 15 and 17. Due to the slow progress on this front and General Katamura's preoccupation with the battles along the Irrawaddy, he was unable to manage the southern units simultaneously. Consequently, General Kimura decided to assign the 33rd Army to take over the fighting in Meiktila. General Honda promptly moved to Hlaingdet, where he was tasked with overseeing the 18th, 49th, and 53rd Divisions. On March 18, he ordered the 18th Division to secure the northern line of Meiktila and neutralize enemy airfields. He instructed the 49th Division to advance along the Pyawbwe-Meiktila road and directed the 53rd Division to regroup near Pyawbwe. However, on that same day, Cowan launched a counterattack by sending two tank-infantry columns to disrupt Japanese preparations along the Mahlaing road and in the villages of Kandaingbauk and Shawbyugan. They faced heavy resistance at Shawbyugan and ultimately had to withdraw. The relentless air assaults also compelled the Japanese to operate primarily at night, limiting their ability to respond with similar force to British offensives. On the night of March 20, Naka decided to initiate a significant attack on Meiktila's main airfield. However, with the 119th Regiment delayed at Shawbyugan, the 55th Regiment had to proceed alone, supported by some tanks, against the defenses of the 99th Brigade around Kyigon. Heavy artillery and mortar fire ultimately disrupted their assault. Meanwhile, as the 49th Division was consolidating its forces to the southeast, Cowan opted to send two tank-infantry columns to eliminate enemy concentrations at Nyaungbintha and Kinlu. Although the initial sweeps met little resistance, the 48th Brigade encountered strong Japanese positions at Shwepadaing on March 21. The next day, Cowan dispatched two tank-infantry columns to secure the Shwepadaing and Tamongan regions, but the British-Indian forces still struggled to eliminate the enemy defenders. That night, Lieutenant-General Takehara Saburo initiated his first significant assault, with the majority of the 106th Regiment targeting the defensive positions of the 48th Brigade in southeastern Meiktila. Despite the fierce and relentless attacks from the Japanese throughout the night, they were ultimately repelled by artillery and machine-gun fire, suffering heavy casualties. On March 23, Cowan sent another tank-infantry column to chase the retreating Japanese forces; however, the reformed 169th Regiment at Kinde successfully defended against this advance. Meanwhile, on the night of March 24, Naka launched another major offensive with the 55th and 119th Regiments, managing to capture Meiktila's main airfield. In response, Cowan quickly dispatched a tank-infantry column to clear the Mandalay road, successfully securing the area northeast of Kyigon by March 26. At this time, Honda had relocated his headquarters to Thazi to better coordinate the battle, although his troops had already suffered significant losses. For the next three days, Cowan's tanks and infantry continued to advance along the Mandalay road while the 63rd and 99th Brigades worked to eliminate Naka's artillery units south of Myindawgan Lake. By mid-March, Stopford's relentless pressure had forced the 31st and 33rd Divisions to retreat in chaos. On March 20, organized resistance in Mandalay was finally shattered as the 2nd British Division linked up with the 19th Indian Division. Consequently, the beleaguered Japanese units had no option but to withdraw in disarray towards the Shan Hills to the east. Following the collapse of the 15th Army front, the 33rd Army received orders on March 28 to hold its current positions only long enough to facilitate the withdrawal of the 15th Army. Consequently, while Cowan's units cleared the region north of Meiktila, Honda halted all offensive actions and promptly directed the 18th Division to secure the Thazi-Hlaingdet area. Additionally, the weakened 214th Regiment was tasked with moving to Yozon to support the withdrawal of the 33rd Division, while the 49th and 53rd Divisions were assigned to contain Meiktila to the south. As the battles for Mandalay and Meiktila unfolded, the reinforced 7th Indian Division at Nyaungu faced several intense assaults from General Yamamoto's 72nd Independent Mixed Brigade throughout March, ultimately advancing to Taungtha and clearing the route to Meiktila by the month's end. Meanwhile, in northern Burma, the 36th British Division advanced toward Mogok, which fell on March 19, while the 50th Chinese Division approached the Hsipaw area. Interestingly, the Japanese abandoned Hsipaw without resistance but launched a fierce counterattack between March 17 and 20. Ultimately, General Matsuyama had no option but to prepare for a withdrawal south toward Lawksawk and Laihka. At this stage, the 38th Chinese Division resumed its advance to Hsipaw; however, facing strong opposition along the route, they did not arrive until March 24, when the entire Burma Road was finally secured. General Sultan believed this was his final maneuver and recommended relocating the Chinese forces back to the Myitkyina area for air transport back to China, except for those needed to secure the Lashio-Hsipaw region. Additionally, the 36th Division continued its eastward push and eventually linked up with the 50th Division in the Kyaukme area by the end of the month before being reassigned to Slim's 14th Army. Looking south, the 74th Indian Brigade and West African forces advanced toward Kolan, while the 26th Indian Division established a new beachhead in the Letpan-Mae region. The 154th Regiment maintained its position near the Dalet River, preventing the remainder of the 82nd West African Division from joining the offensive. On March 23, General Miyazaki decided to launch an attack on Kolan. Although the assault achieved moderate success, Miyazaki soon recognized that he was outnumbered and opted to begin a final withdrawal toward the An Pass, completing this by the end of the month.   Meanwhile, on March 17, the 121st Regiment sent its 3rd Battalion to engage the enemy in the Sabyin area and hold their position along the Tanlwe River for as long as possible. Despite strong resistance from the Japanese, British-Indian forces managed to cross the Tanlwe by March 27 and successfully captured Hill 815 two days later. By March 30, the 22nd East African Brigade had also reached Letpan when High Command decided to relieve the units of the 26th Division and return them to India. In a related development, tensions were rising in French Indochina, where the local government refused to permit a Japanese defense of the colony. By early March, Japanese forces began redeploying around the main French garrison towns in Indochina. The Japanese envoy in Saigon Ambassador Shunichi Matsumoto declared to Governor Admiral Jean Decoux that since an Allied landing in Indochina was inevitable, Tokyo command wished to put into place a "common defence" of Indochina. Decoux however resisted stating that this would be a catalyst for an Allied invasion but suggested that Japanese control would be accepted if they actually invaded. This was not enough and Tsuchihashi accused Decoux of playing for time. On 9 March, after more stalling by Decoux, Tsuchihashi delivered an ultimatum for French troops to disarm. Decoux sent a messenger to Matsumoto urging further negotiations but the message arrived at the wrong building. Tsuchihashi, assuming that Decoux had rejected the ultimatum, immediately ordered commencement of the coup. The 11th R.I.C. (régiment d'infanterie coloniale) based at the Martin de Pallieres barracks in Saigon were surrounded and disarmed after their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Moreau, was arrested. In Hue there was sporadic fighting; the Garde Indochinoise, who provided security for the résident supérieur, fought for 19 hours against the Japanese before their barracks was overrun and destroyed. Three hundred men, one third of them French, managed to elude the Japanese and escape to the A Sầu Valley. However, over the next three days, they succumbed to hunger, disease and betrayals - many surrendered while others fought their way into Laos where only a handful survived. Meanwhile, General Eugène Mordant led opposition by the garrison of Hanoi for several hours but was forced to capitulate, with 292 dead on the French side and 212 Japanese. An attempt to disarm a Vietnamese garrison ended badly for the Japanese when 600 of them marched into Quảng Ngãi. The Vietnamese nationalists had been armed with automatic weapons supplied by the OSS parachuted nearby at Kontum. The Japanese had been led to believe that these men would readily defect but the Vietnamese ambushed the Japanese. Losing only three killed and seventeen wounded they inflicted 143 killed and another 205 wounded on the Japanese before they too were overcome. A much larger force of Japanese came the next day but they found the garrison empty. In Annam and Cochinchina only token resistance was offered and most garrisons, small as they were, surrendered. Further north the French had the sympathy of many indigenous peoples. Several hundred Laotians volunteered to be armed as guerrillas against the Japanese; French officers organized them into detachments but turned away those they did not have weapons for. In Haiphong the Japanese assaulted the Bouet barracks: headquarters of Colonel Henry Lapierre's 1st Tonkin Brigade. Using heavy mortar and machine gun fire, one position was taken after another before the barracks fell and Lapierre ordered a ceasefire. Lapierre refused to sign surrender messages for the remaining garrisons in the area. Codebooks had also been burnt which meant the Japanese then had to deal with the other garrisons by force. In Laos, Vientiane, Thakhek and Luang Prabang were taken by the Japanese without much resistance. In Cambodia the Japanese with 8,000 men seized Phnom Penh and all major towns in the same manner. All French personnel in the cities on both regions were either interned or in some cases executed. The Japanese strikes at the French in the Northern Frontier in general saw the heaviest fighting. One of the first places they needed to take and where they amassed the 22nd division was at Lang Son, a strategic fort near the Chinese border. The defences of Lang Son consisted of a series of fort complexes built by the French to defend against a Chinese invasion. The main fortress was the Fort Brière de l'Isle. Inside was a French garrison of nearly 4000 men, many of them Tonkinese, with units of the French Foreign Legion. Once the Japanese had cut off all communications to the forts they invited General Émile Lemonnier, the commander of the border region, to a banquet at the headquarters of the Japanese 22nd Division. Lemonnier declined to attend the event, but allowed some of his staff to go in his place. They were then taken prisoner and soon after the Japanese bombarded Fort Brière de l'Isle, attacking with infantry and tanks. The small forts outside had to defend themselves in isolation; they did so for a time, proving impenetrable, and the Japanese were repelled with some loss. They tried again the next day and succeeded in taking the outer positions. Finally, the main fortress of Brière de l'Isle was overrun after heavy fighting. Lemonnier was subsequently taken prisoner himself and ordered by a Japanese general to sign a document formally surrendering the forces under his command. Lemonnier refused to sign the documents. As a result, the Japanese took him outside where they forced him to dig a grave along with French Resident-superior (Résident-général) Camille Auphelle. Lemonnier again was ordered to sign the surrender documents and again refused. The Japanese subsequently beheaded him. The Japanese then machine-gunned some of the prisoners and either beheaded or bayoneted the wounded survivors. Lang Son experienced particularly intense fighting, with the 22nd Division relentlessly assaulting the 4,000-strong garrison for two days until the main fortress was captured. The Japanese then advanced further north to the border town of Dong Dang, which fell by March 15. The battle of Lạng Sơn cost the French heavy casualties and their force on the border was effectively destroyed. European losses were 544 killed, of which 387 had been executed after capture. In addition 1,832 Tonkinese colonial troops were killed (including 103 who were executed) while another 1,000 were taken prisoner. On 12 March planes of the US Fourteenth Air Force flying in support of the French, mistook a column of Tonkinese prisoners for Japanese and bombed and strafed them. Reportedly between 400 and 600 of the prisoners were killed or wounded.  Nonetheless, the coup was highly successful, with the Japanese subsequently encouraging declarations of independence from traditional rulers in various regions. On 11 March 1945, Emperor Bảo Đại was permitted to announce the Vietnamese "independence"; this declaration had been prepared by Yokoyama Seiko, Minister for Economic Affairs of the Japanese diplomatic mission in Indochina and later advisor to Bao Dai. Bảo Đại complied in Vietnam where they set up a puppet government headed by Tran Trong Kim and which collaborated with the Japanese. King Norodom Sihanouk also obeyed, but the Japanese did not trust the Francophile monarch. Nationalist leader Son Ngoc Thanh, who had been exiled in Japan and was considered a more trustworthy ally than Sihanouk, returned to Cambodia and became Minister of foreign affairs in May and then Prime Minister in August. In Laos however, King Sisavang Vong of Luang Phrabang, who favoured French rule, refused to declare independence, finding himself at odds with his Prime Minister, Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa, but eventually acceded on 8 April. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. March 1945, saw US forces advance in Luzon, overcoming Japanese defenses through strategic maneuvers, while guerrilla activities intensified amid challenging terrain and heavy resistance. Meanwhile, in Burma, British-Indian forces advanced against Japanese troops, capturing key locations and in French Indochina the Japanese unleashed a brutal coup d'etat ushering in independence movements.

This week we talk about arabica, robusta, and profit margins.We also discuss colonialism, coffee houses, and religious uppers.Recommended Book: On Writing and Worldbuilding by Timothy HicksonTranscriptLike many foods and beverages that contain body- or mind-altering substances, coffee was originally used, on scale at least, by people of faith, leveraging it as an aid for religious rituals. Sufis in what is today Yemen, back in the early 15th century, consumed it as a stimulant which allowed them to more thoroughly commit themselves to their worship, and it was being used by the Muslim faithful in Mecca around the same time.By the following century, it spread to the Levant, and from there it was funneled into larger trade routes and adopted by civilizations throughout the Mediterranean world, including the Ottomans, the Mamluks, groups in Italy and Northern Africa, and a few hundred years later, all the way over to India and the East Indies.Western Europeans got their hands on this beverage by the late 1600s, and it really took off in Germany and Holland, where coffee houses, which replicated an establishment type that was popularized across the Muslim world the previous century, started to pop up all over the place; folks would visit these hubs in lieu of alehouses, subbing in stimulants for depressants, and they were spaces in which it was appropriate for people across the social and economic strata to interact with each other, playing board games like chess and backgammon, and cross-pollinating their knowledge and beliefs.According to some scholars, this is part of why coffee houses were banned in many countries, including England, where they also became popular, because those up top, including but not limited to royalty, considered them to be hotbeds of reformatory thought, political instability, and potentially even revolution. Let the people hang out with each other and allow them to discuss whatever they like, and you end up with a bunch of potential enemies, and potential threats to the existing power structures.It's also been claimed, and this of course would be difficult to definitively prove, though the timing does seem to line up, that the introduction of coffee to Europe is what led to the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, and eventually, the Industrial Revolution. The theory being that swapping out alcohol, at least during the day, and creating these spaces in which ideas and understandings and experiences could be swapped, without as much concern about social strata as in other popular third places, spots beyond the home and work, that allowed all sorts of political ideas to flourish, it helped inventions become realized—in part because there were coffee houses that catered to investors, one of which eventually became the London Stock Exchange—but also because it helped people organize, and do so in a context in which they were hyper-alert and aware, and more likely to engage in serious conversation; which is a stark contrast to the sorts of conversations you might have when half- or fully-drunk at an alehouse, exclusively amongst a bunch of your social and economic peers.If it did play a role in those movements, coffee was almost certainly just one ingredient in a larger recipe; lots of variables were swirling in these areas that seem to have contributed to those cultural, technological, economic, and government shifts.The impact of such beverages on the human body and mind, and human society aside, though, coffee has become globally popular and thus, economically vital. And that's what I'd like to talk about today; coffee's role in the global economy, and recent numbers that show coffee prices are ballooning, and are expected to balloon still further, perhaps substantially, in the coming years.—For a long while, coffee was a bit of a novelty outside of the Muslim world, even in European locales that had decently well-established coffeehouses.That changed when the Dutch East India Company started importing the beans to the Netherlands in the early 17th century. By the mid-1600s they were bringing commercial-scale shipments of the stuff to Amsterdam, which led to the expansion of the beverage's trade-range throughout Europe.The Dutch then started cultivating their own coffee crops in colonial territories, including Ceylon, which today is called Sri Lanka, and the island of Java. The British East India Company took a similar approach around the same time, and that eventually led to coffee bean cultivation in North America; though it didn't do terribly well there, initially, as tea and alcoholic beverages were more popular with the locals. In the late 18th century, though, North Americans were boycotting British tea and that led to an uptick in coffee consumption thereabouts, though this paralleled a resurgence in tea-drinking back in Britain, in part because they weren't shipping as much tea to their North American colonies, and in part because they conquered India, and were thus able to import a whole lot more tea from the thriving Indian tea industry.The Americas became more important to the burgeoning coffee trade in the mid-1700s after a French naval officer brought a coffee plant to Martinique, in the Caribbean, and that plant flourished, serving as the source of almost all of today's arabica coffee beans, as it was soon spread to what is today Haiti, and by 1788, Haiti's coffee plantations provided half the world's coffee.It's worth remembering that this whole industry, the portion of it run by the Europeans, at least, was built on the back of slaves. These Caribbean plantations, in particular, were famously abusive, and that abuse eventually resulted in the Haitian revolution of 1791, which five years later led to the territory's independence.That said, coffee plantations elsewhere, like in Brazil and across other parts of South and Central America, continued to flourish throughout this period, colonialists basically popping into an area, conquering it, and then enslaving the locals, putting them to work on whatever plantations made the most sense for the local climate.Many of these conquered areas and their enslaved locals were eventually able to free themselves, though in some cases it took a long time—about a century, in Brazil's case.Some plantations ended up being maintained even after the locals gained their freedom from their European conquerers, though. Brazil's coffee industry, for instance, began with some small amount of cultivation in the 1720s, but really started to flourish after independence was won in 1822, and the new, non-colonialist government decided to start clearing large expanses of rainforest to make room for more, and more intensive plantations. By the early 1900s, Brazil was producing about 70% of the world's coffee exports, with their neighbors—Colombia and Guatemala, in particular—making up most of the rest. Eurasian producers, formerly the only places where coffee was grown, remember, only made up about 5% of global exports by that time.The global market changed dramatically in the lead-up to WWII, as Europe was a primary consumer of these beans, and about 40% of the market disappeared, basically overnight, because the continent was spending all their resources on other things; mostly war-related things.An agreement between South and Central American coffee producing countries and the US helped shore-up production during this period, and those agreements allowed other Latin American nations to develop their own production infrastructure, as well, giving Brazil more hemispheric competition.And in the wake of WWII, when colonies were gaining their independence left and right, Ivory Coast and Ethiopia also became major players in this space. Some burgeoning Southeast Asian countries, most especially Vietnam, entered the global coffee market in the post-war years, and as of the 2020s, Brazil is still the top producer, followed by Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia, and Ethiopia—though a few newer entrants, like India, are also gaining market share pretty quickly.As of 2023, the global coffee market has a value of around $224 billion; that figure can vary quite a lot based on who's numbers you use, but it's in the hundreds of billions range, whether you're looking just at beans, or including the ready-to-drink market, as well, and the growth rate numbers are fairly consistent, even if what's measured and the value placed on it differs depending on the stats aggregator you use.Some estimates suggest the market will grow to around $324 billion, an increase of around $100 billion, by 2030, which would give the coffee industry a compound annual growth rate that's larger than that of the total global caffeinated beverage market; and as of 2023, coffee accounts for something like 87% of the global caffeinated beverage market, so it's already the dominant player in this space, and is currently, at least, expected to become even more dominant by 2030.There's concern within this industry, however, that a collection of variables might disrupt that positive-seeming trajectory; which wouldn't be great for the big corporations that sell a lot of these beans, but would also be really bad, beyond shareholder value, for the estimated 25 million people, globally, who produce the beans and thus rely on the industry to feed their families, and the 100-110 million more who process, distribute, and import coffee products, and who thus rely on a stable market for their paychecks.Of those producers, an estimated 12.5 million work on smaller farms of 50 acres or less, and 60% of the world's coffee is made by people working on such smallholdings. About 44% of those people live below the World Bank's poverty metric; so it's already a fairly precarious economic situation for many of the people at the base-level of the production system, and any disruptions to what's going on at any level of the coffee industry could ripple across that system pretty quickly; disrupting a lot of markets and local economies, alongside the human suffering such disruptions could cause.This is why recent upsets to the climate that have messed with coffee crops are causing so much anxiety. Rising average temperatures, bizarre cold snaps, droughts, heavy and unseasonable rainfalls—in some cases all of these things, one after another—combined with outbreaks of plant diseases like coffee rust, have been putting a lot of pressure on this industry, including in Brazil and Vietnam, the world's two largest producers, as of the mid-2020s.In the past year alone, because of these and other externalities, the price of standard-model coffee beans has more than doubled, and the specialty stuff has seen prices grow even more than that.Higher prices can sometimes be a positive for those who make the now-more-expensive goods, if they're able to charge more but keep their expenses stable.In this case, though, the cost of doing business is going up, because coffee makers have to spend more on protecting their crops from diseases, losing crops because of those climate issues, and because of disruptions to global shipping channels. That means profit margins have remained fairly consistent rather than going up: higher cost to make, higher prices for consumers, about the same amount of money being made by those who work in this industry and that own the brands that put coffee goods on shelves.The issue, though, is that the cost of operation is still going up, and a lot of smallholders in particular, which again, produce about 60% of all the coffee made, worldwide, are having trouble staying solvent. Their costs of operation are still going up, and it's not a guarantee that consumers will be willing to continue spending more and more and more money on what's basically a commodity product; there are a lot of caffeinated beverages, and a lot of other types of beverage they could buy instead, if coffee becomes too pricy.And at this point, in the US, for instance, the retail price of ground roast coffee has surpassed an average of $7 per pound, up 15% in the past year. Everyone's expecting that to keep climbing, and at some point these price increases will lose the industry customers, which in turn could create a cascading effect that kills off some of these smaller producers, which then raises prices even more, and that could create a spiral that's difficult to stop or even slow.Already, this increase in prices, even for the traditionally cheaper and less desirable robusta coffee bean, has led some producers to leave coffee behind and shift to more consistently profitable goods; many plantations in Vietnam, for instance, have converted some of their facilities over to durian fruit, instead of robusta, and that's limited the supply of robusta, raising the prices of that bean, which in turn is causing some producers of robusta to shift to arabica, which is typically more expensive, and that's meant more coffee on the market is of the more expensive variety, adding to those existing price increases.The futures markets on which coffee beans are traded are also being upended by these pricing issues, resulting in margin calls on increasingly unprofitable trades that, in short, have necessitated that more coffee traders front money for their bets instead of just relying on short positions that have functioned something like insurance paid with credit based on further earnings, and this has put many of them out of business—and that, you guessed it, has also resulted in higher prices, and more margin calls, which could put even more of them out of business in the coming years.There are ongoing efforts to reorganize how the farms at the base on this industry are set up, both in terms of how they produce their beans, and in terms of who owns what, and who profits, how. This model typically costs more to run, and results in less coffee production: in some cases 25% less. But it also results in more savings because trees last up to twice as long, the folks who work the farms are much better compensated, and less likely to suffer serious negative health impacts from their labor, and the resultant coffee is of a much higher quality; kind of a win win win situation for everyone, though again, it's less efficient, so up till now the model hasn't really worked beyond some limited implementations, mostly in Central America.That could change, though, as these larger disruptions in the market could also make room for this type of segue, and indeed, there has apparently been more interest in it, because if the beans are going to cost more, anyway, and the current way of doing things doesn't seem to work consistently anymore, and might even collapse over the next decade if something doesn't change, it may make sense, even to the soulless accounting books of major global conglomerates, to reset the industry so that it's more resilient, and so that the people holding the whole sprawling industry up with their labor are less likely to disappear some day, due to more favorable conditions offered by other markets, or because they're simply worked to death under the auspices of an uncaring, fairly brutal economic and climatic reality.Show Noteshttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/business/coffee-prices-climate-change.htmlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20100905180219/https://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B0/B701/12MB701.htmlhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/1246099?origin=crossrefhttps://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jan/07/coffee-prices-australia-going-up-cafe-flat-white-costhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y37dvlr70ohttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/28/business/coffee-prices-climate-change.htmlhttps://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/coffee-prices-food-inflation-climate-change-eggs-bank-of-america-2025-2https://www.statista.com/statistics/675807/average-prices-arabica-and-robusta-coffee-worldwide/https://www.ft.com/content/9934a851-c673-4c16-86eb-86e30bbbaef3https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/01/business/your-coffees-about-to-get-more-expensive-heres-why/index.htmlhttps://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/caffeinated-beverage-market-38053https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/caffeinated-beverage-markethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_coffeehouses_in_the_17th_and_18th_centurieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehousehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coffeehttps://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/the-coffeehouse-culture/https://www.openculture.com/2021/08/how-caffeine-fueled-the-enlightenment-industrial-revolution-the-modern-world.html This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

At a certain point in human history, mundane spices like pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, the stuff you have shoved in the back of your cabinet right now, made one company so much money it is still considered one of the valuable to ever exist. Not only were they extremely successful at running spice, they almost served as a country unto themselves. The Dutch government had granted the VOC (the acronym for the company in its native Dutch and so much easier to type) a monopoly on the spice trade from the Indies for 21 years. Combine that with permission to establish new colonies or outposts, dispense its own justice, make treaties with other rulers or governments, and operate its own Navy and soldiers. The VOC was a nation in more ways than some actual nations were. Other advantages the VOC had in ship building, it includes windmills, and the ability to raise capital with the advent of the stock exchange. The creation of shares in voyages would make its way to New Amsterdam in North America, soon to become New York City, you know, where the New York Stock Exchange is....seeing the connection here. Any way you slice it the VOC was huge, but as always, success does not come without a cost and boy did a lotta people pay for it. If you're still reading you can stop now and start the episode. Support the show

Following the Battle of France, came the Battle of Britain. Thanks, though, above all to the fighter pilots of the RAF – 20% of them from other countries, led by Poland and New Zealand – Britain weathered that storm, where France had been overcome by it. There'd been fewer than 3000 of those airmen but Britain owed its survival in the war to them so, as Churchill put it, never ‘was so much owed by so many to so few'. But Britain was far from out of the woods yet. There were worrying signs from the Far East where, taking advantage of France's defeat, Japan had occupied the north of Vietnam, then part of the French colony of Indochina. Its aim in doing so was to cut off a supply route to the Nationalist forces fighting the Japanese army in China, but it also brought Japan right up to the imperial territories of the European powers with holdings in the region: as well as France these were Britain, with its holdings in India and Malaya, as well as Holland in the Dutch the East Indies. Meanwhile, there was fighting in North Africa too, where the British overwhelmed the Italians attacking from Libya into Egypt. But then Rommel showed up with the German Afrika Korps. The tables were about to be turned. Illustration: A German Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over East End of London on 7 September 1940. Photo from a German aircraft. Public Domain. Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest Lectionary: 176The Saint of the day is Saint Francis XavierSaint Francis Xavier's Story Jesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him. Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534, joined his little community, the infant Society of Jesus. Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity, obedience, and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope. From Venice, where he was ordained a priest in 1537, Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans, and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India. Wherever he went, Xavier lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy. Xavier went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct, and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland, he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa. He and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux were declared co-patrons of the missions in 1925. Reflection All of us are called to “go and preach to all nations—see Matthew 28:19. Our preaching is not necessarily on distant shores but to our families, our children, our husband or wife, our coworkers. And we are called to preach not with words, but by our everyday lives. Only by sacrifice, the giving up of all selfish gain, could Francis Xavier be free to bear the Good News to the world. Sacrifice is leaving yourself behind at times for a greater good, the good of prayer, the good of helping someone in need, the good of just listening to another. The greatest gift we have is our time. Francis Xavier gave his to others. Saint Francis Xavier is a Patron Saint of: JapanJewelersMissionsSailors Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552; joined the infant Society of Jesus in 1534; ordained in 1537, and went to Lisbon; from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India; for the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans, and the Japanese; he longed to go to China, but he died before reaching the mainland Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/3/24 Gospel: Luke 10:21-24

Craig and Gaurav go over the early naval engagements between the Dutch and Japanese during the Pacific War.   Two weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan accelerated its plans to invade the Dutch East Indies for vital oil resources, essential for its war efforts. As Japanese forces swiftly advanced in the Philippines, they captured strategic locations, including Mindanao and Davao, while Allied defenses crumbled. In late December 1941, Japan launched further assaults in Malaya, isolating Singapore and diminishing Allied naval power. By January 1942, Japanese forces targeted Balikpapan, a crucial oil hub in Borneo. The Dutch, determined to defend their territory, prepared for a guerrilla campaign and attempted to sabotage oil facilities. However, the Japanese invasion fleet approached Balikpapan on January 21, 1942. Despite Allied air attacks and submarine efforts, the Japanese landed on January 24, marking a significant step in their campaign to secure the East Indies, while the Allies faced overwhelming challenges and dwindling resources.   In the early hours of January 24, 1942, Talbot's destroyers stealthily approached the anchored Japanese fleet, illuminated by burning oil facilities. Utilizing torpedoes for surprise attacks, they struck swiftly, sinking several transports, including Sumanoura Maru. Despite their efforts, many torpedoes missed, and the Japanese fleet sustained fewer losses than expected. By dawn, the Allies had achieved a tactical victory, but nine of twelve transports survived, allowing the Japanese advance into the Dutch East Indies to continue. In February, an Allied strike force was formed, but they faced devastating air assaults, retreating to Surabaya after suffering heavy damage without losing ships.                                                                  

"Nutmeg, the seed of the tree, was the most coveted luxury in seventeenth-century Europe, a spice held to have such powerful medicinal properties that men would risk their lives to acquire it." - Giles Milton, Nathaniel's NutmegIn the seventeenth century, a fierce rivalry emerged between the British and the Dutch in the East Indies over the lucrative spice trade. Nutmeg, a rare and highly prized spice native to the Banda Islands, fueled the establishment and rapid expansion of both the British and Dutch East India Companies, each determined to control the trade.Reaching these distant islands was perilous, with expeditions facing violent storms, outbreaks of disease, unfamiliar cultures, and the constant threat of piracy. Despite these challenges, both powers were relentless in their pursuit of nutmeg.With the Dutch securing an early foothold in the region and equipped with a more formidable fleet, they were intent on eliminating British influence to establish a global monopoly on nutmeg. But could they achieve their goal? Or would the British hold on against the odds—and at what cost?Join John and special guest Giles Milton in the first episode of our two-part series on the spice trade wars as they delve into how a single spice from a group of remote Pacific islands would shape the course of world history.Order the special 25th anniversary copy of Nathaniel's Nutmeg by Giles Milton here.In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of BusinessJoin the History of Fresh Produce Club (https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/) for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Join John and Patrick as they delve into the early interactions between Dutch settlers and Khoikhoi pastoralists at the Cape of Good Hope. What begins as a Dutch East India Company refreshment outpost to supply ships traveling to and from the East Indies evolves into a catalyst for European colonization driven by trade and agricultural ambitions. As Dutch settlers strive to expand their farms, tensions rise over land acquisition. How will the Khoikhoi respond to these encroachments? Will peace prevail, or will conflict ensue? In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of BusinessJoin the History of Fresh Produce Club (https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/) for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Join John and Patrick as they delve into the early interactions between Dutch settlers and Khoikhoi pastoralists at the Cape of Good Hope. What begins as a Dutch East India Company refreshment outpost to supply ships traveling to and from the East Indies evolves into a catalyst for European colonization driven by trade and agricultural ambitions. As Dutch settlers strive to expand their farms, tensions rise over land acquisition. How will the Khoikhoi respond to these encroachments? Will peace prevail, or will conflict ensue? Join the History of Fresh Produce Club (https://app.theproduceindustrypodcast.com/access/) for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Comedians Josie Marcellino & Aaron McCann join Zac Amico this week for another expedition into Italian horror. An inquisitive trip to the East Indies delivers more than just some anthropological finds for this one unlucky group of academics. Hoping for cannibals, and biting off more than they could chew, a secret army of surgically modified zombies is unveiled, turning every plan on its head. It's none other than Zombie Holocaust (AKA "Doctor Butcher M.D."), directed by Marino Girolami.Support Our Sponsors!Capsulyte prevents feeling awful the day after drinking. It's doctor-formulated, supports your liver, and comes in convenient portable packets. Visit www.Capsulyte.com and use promo code GAS at checkout for 30% OFF your order today!Fans over the age of 21, go to YoDelta.com and use promo code GAS for 25% OFF your order!Fans over the age of 21, visit YoKratom.com for all your Kratom needs. No promo code necessary, just head over to YoKratom.com, home of the $60 kilo!For the full watch-along experience, visit GaSDigital.com and use promo code ZAC14 at signup now for a 14-day free trial and access to all of our episodes, completely UNCENSORED!Follow the Show!Zac Amico:https://www.youtube.com/@midnightspookshowhttps://www.instagram.com/zacisnotfunnyhttps://twitter.com/ZASpookshowJosie Marcellino:http://instagram.com/josiemarcellinohttp://twitter.com/josiemarcellinoAaron McCann:http://instagram.com/mccanncomedyhttp://facebook.com/aaronmccanncomedySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chapter 1 What's Vermeer's Hat Book by Timothy Brook"Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World" is a book written by Timothy Brook. It was first published in 2008. The book explores the global connections and influences on the world during the 17th century through the examination of various objects depicted in the paintings of the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. The objects, such as a hat, a porcelain bowl, a map, and a silver coin, serve as a starting point to delve into the interconnectedness of cultures and economies in this era of expanding trade and colonialism. The book provides insights into how these objects reveal the global networks and flows of goods, ideas, and people during the 17th century.Chapter 2 Is Vermeer's Hat Book A Good BookThe book "Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World" by Timothy Brook is generally well-received and considered a good book. It offers a unique perspective on the 17th century and the impact of globalization through the analysis of five objects depicted in paintings by the Dutch artist Vermeer. The book combines art history, global history, and cultural analysis to provide insights into the connections between different parts of the world during this period. Many readers appreciate the interdisciplinary approach and find the book informative, engaging, and thought-provoking. However, personal reading preferences may vary, so it is recommended to read reviews or sample the book before making a final judgment.Chapter 3 Vermeer's Hat Book by Timothy Brook Summary"Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World" is a book by Timothy Brook that explores the global connections and cultural exchanges that took place during the 17th century, as seen through the artworks of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The book focuses on a series of paintings by Vermeer and uses them as a starting point to examine the interconnectedness of the world during this period.The title of the book refers to one of Vermeer's most famous paintings, "Girl with a Pearl Earring," in which the subject is wearing a turban coiled with a blue and white drape. This hat, according to the author, symbolizes the global trade and cultural exchange that was taking place during Vermeer's time.Throughout the book, Brook takes readers on a journey across the globe, exploring the different regions and cultures that were involved in these global exchanges. From the ports of China to the mines of Bolivia, the author uncovers the complex network of trade routes that spanned the continents during the 17th century.Brook also delves into the ways in which these global connections influenced art, science, and trade. He discusses how the commodities, such as spices, textiles, and ceramics, that were exchanged during this period had a significant impact on the material culture of the time. Moreover, he explores how the exchange of ideas and knowledge across borders shaped the way people thought about the world.Through his analysis of Vermeer's paintings, Brook showcases how the global connections of the 17th century can be traced back to even the smallest details of everyday life. For example, he examines the presence of Chinese porcelain in Vermeer's paintings as a representation of the East Indies trade and European fascination with exotic goods.Overall, "Vermeer's Hat" provides a captivating exploration of the global connections and cultural exchanges that shaped the 17th century. Through Vermeer's artworks, the book illuminates the interconnectedness of the world during this period and highlights the lasting impact of these exchanges on art, trade, and society. Chapter 4 Vermeer's Hat Book...

Formally titled "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies," the East India Company was established to capitalise on the lucrative spice ...

The long-range spice trade began in around 1000 BCE with the movement of cinnamon, and perhaps pepper, from India and Indonesia to Egypt. For the next 1000 years, the Arabs served as the sole middlemen of the spice trade. In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama made the first sea voyage from Europe to India, via the southernmost tip of Africa. The mission was driven by a desire to find a direct route to the places where spices were plentiful and cheap, cutting out the middlemen. This marked the start of direct trading between Europe and South East Asia.

Full Text of ReadingsFirst Sunday of Advent Lectionary: 2The Saint of the day is Saint Francis XavierSaint Francis Xavier's Story Jesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him. Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534, joined his little community, the infant Society of Jesus. Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity, obedience, and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope. From Venice, where he was ordained a priest in 1537, Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans, and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India. Wherever he went, Xavier lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy. Xavier went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct, and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland, he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa. He and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux were declared co-patrons of the missions in 1925. Reflection All of us are called to “go and preach to all nations—see Matthew 28:19. Our preaching is not necessarily on distant shores but to our families, our children, our husband or wife, our coworkers. And we are called to preach not with words, but by our everyday lives. Only by sacrifice, the giving up of all selfish gain, could Francis Xavier be free to bear the Good News to the world. Sacrifice is leaving yourself behind at times for a greater good, the good of prayer, the good of helping someone in need, the good of just listening to another. The greatest gift we have is our time. Francis Xavier gave his to others. Saint Francis Xavier is a Patron Saint of: JapanJewelersMissionsSailors Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

I read from easterly to eastward.     I would love to visit the East Indies someday, but we really don't call that area the "East Indies" anymore.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Indies     So yes, I was right (for once!). East Northeast it between East and Northeast. (more info in the previous episode's show notes) But it looks like I was wrong about the degree number. North is 0 degrees, East is 90. I was thinking about the globe, and not the compass.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_direction     The word of the episode is "eastward".     Theme music from Tom Maslowski https://zestysol.com/     Merchandising! https://www.teepublic.com/user/spejampar     "The Dictionary - Letter A" on YouTube   "The Dictionary - Letter B" on YouTube   "The Dictionary - Letter C" on YouTube   "The Dictionary - Letter D" on YouTube     Featured in a Top 10 Dictionary Podcasts list! https://blog.feedspot.com/dictionary_podcasts/     Backwards Talking on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmIujMwEDbgZUexyR90jaTEEVmAYcCzuq     dictionarypod@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/thedictionarypod/ https://www.threads.net/@dictionarypod https://twitter.com/dictionarypod https://www.instagram.com/dictionarypod/ https://www.patreon.com/spejampar https://www.tiktok.com/@spejampar 917-727-5757

A dramatic tale of a shipwrecked family of six who must use their wits to survive on a deserted island. The story, written by Johann David Wyss places the family in the early 19th century in the East Indies, and shows a strong father guiding his four sons actions as well as a God-fearing family which must use their combined wits to survive. This is a terrific story which delivers interesting nature and science facts as well as MacGyver-style solutions to various problems- such as, in Chapter One, how to transfer themselves from the wrecked ship to shore as well as rescue the animals on board, or how to eat soup with no utensils. Try the new "Tales of Escape & Suspense"- links below! ANDROID USERS- 1001 Tales of Escape & Suspense at Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2HQYk53AJHTOgBTLBzyP3w 1001 Stories From The Old West at Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0c2fc0cGwJBcPfyC8NWNTw 1001 Radio Crime Solvers at Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/0UAUS12lnS2063PWK9CZ37 1001's Best of Jack London at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2HzkpdKeWJgUU9rbx3NqgF 1001 Radio Days at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5jyc4nVoe00xoOxrhyAa8H 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6rzDb5uFdOhfw5X6P5lkWn 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6rO7HELtRcGfV48UeP8aFQ 1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories & The Best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4dIgYvBwZVTN5ewF0JPaTK 1001 Ghost Stories & Tales of the Macabre on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5P4hV28LgpG89dRNMfSDKJ 1001 Stories for the Road on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6FhlsxYFTGNPiSMYxM9O9K 1001 Greatest Love Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5sUUFDVTatnGt7FiNQvSHe 1001 History's Best Storytellers: (INTERVIEWS) on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QyZ1u4f9OLb9O32KX6Ghr APPLE USERS New! 1001 Tales of Escape and Suspense at Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-tales-of-escape-and-suspense/id1689248043 Catch 1001 Stories From The Old West- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-stories-from-the-old-west/id1613213865 Catch 1001's Best of Jack London- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-best-of-jack-london/id1656939169 Catch 1001 Radio Crime Solvers- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-radio-crime-solvers/id1657397371 Catch 1001 Heroes on Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-heroes-legends-histories-mysteries-podcast/id956154836?mt=2  Catch 1001 Classic Short Stories at Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-classic-short-stories-tales/id1078098622 Catch 1001 Stories for the Road at Apple Podcast now:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-stories-for-the-road/id1227478901 NEW Enjoy 1001 Greatest Love Stories on Apple Devices here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-greatest-love-stories/id1485751552 Catch 1001 RADIO DAYS now at Apple iTunes!  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-radio-days/id1405045413?mt=2 NEW 1001 Ghost Stories & Tales of the Macabre is now playing at Apple Podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-ghost-stories-tales-of-the-macabre/id1516332327 NEW Enjoy 1001 History's Best Storytellers (Interviews) on Apple Devices here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-historys-best-storytellers/id1483649026 NEW Enjoy 1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories and The Best of Arthur Conan Doyle https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-sherlock-holmes-stories-best-sir-arthur-conan/id1534427618 Get all of our shows at one website: https://.1001storiespodcast.com My email works as well for comments: 1001storiespodcast@gmail.com SUPPORT OUR SHOW BY BECOMING A PATRON! https://.patreon.com/1001storiesnetwork. Its time I started asking for support! Thank you. Its a few dollars a month OR a one time. (Any amount is appreciated). YOUR REVIEWS ARE NEEDED AND APPRECIATED! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twixt Land and Sea by Joseph Conrad audiobook. While the central figures in each of the three stories in this collection are sailing captains, the main action in two of them takes place on land, albeit in sight of the sea. In 'A Smile of Fortune', a naive young sea captain falls into grave moral peril when he locks horns with a wily ship chandler in Mauritius. In 'The Secret Sharer', a newly appointed sea captain is confronted with an altogether different kind of challenge when he attempts to haul in a rope ladder over his ship's side one evening and finds it much heavier than usual. In 'Freya of the Seven Isles', Jasper Allen, the captain of a lovely little brig, floats on a cloud of love, expecting soon to marry Freya, the daughter of an East Indies plantation owner, and not taking seriously the pretentions of an older Dutch naval officer who sees himself as Jasper's rival. The depth of psychological insight in these stories is variable, but each is a gripping and suspenseful example of Conrad's magazine fiction in the years immediately preceding the Great War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With just a month until the first World Diplomacy Championship in Asia we catchup with organisers Andrew Goff and Lei Saarlainen about WDC Bangkok 2023, plus lots more. Intro The guys introduce their drinks and tonight's venue (0 mins 10 secs) They discuss why Italy doesn't open more often to the west and some crazy openings (5 mins 35 secs) Interview about WDC Bangkok with Andrew Goff and Lei Saarlainen They introduce the interview today with Lei Saarlainen and Andrew Goff about WDC 2023 in Bangkok (14 mins) We discuss what's planned (16 mins 40 sec) They discuss how language is approached at the tournament (20 mins) Andrew and Lei discusses what makes this WDC different to previous tournaments (25 mins 10 secs) Kaner asks about what Bangkok is like for visitors flying in and what to do. Andrew gives some tricks to remember for visitors (29 mins 45 secs) Lei also mentions there is a side tournament being held a week later in Siem Reap in Cambodia including visits to the Angkor Wat temple complex. Andrew also gives context for scheduling during the tournament and a WhatsApp group (33 mins 50 secs) They discuss time limit plans for the games (38 mins 20 secs) Kaner asks about the tournament scoring system (41 mins 20 secs) Amby goes onto discuss which official version of the rules will be used - the new board or rules played for many years (44 mins 10 secs) Amby asks about the cultural style of the tournament gameplay (48 mins 20 secs) He goes onto ask about the local climate and how should people be packing (52 mins 30 secs) They discuss some of the challenges maintaining momentum for the tournament during the pandemic (56 mins) They begin wrapping up the interview (1 hr 1 min) They goes give their thoughts on the interview (1 hr 2 mins 30 secs) Amby incorrectly says the Siem Reap tournament will be in a temple - he misheard Lei - ignore this bit folks! (1 hr 7 mins) Diplomacy chat Kaner asks about getting a face to face game in Brisbane (1 hr 13 mins) Amby discusses the Curious Western Triple  (1 hr 14 mins) The guys talk houses and the Kaner & Amby Gardening Show (1 hr 28 mins)  Around the grounds The guys discuss their Nine Dash Line game (https://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=55953) which they're playing with podcast listeners (1 hr 33 mins 40 secs) vDip has new variants again thanks to tobi1 and Enriador. Kaner talks about his anonymous East Indies game where he's getting screwed over (https://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=55953) (1 hr 41 mins 50 secs) Amby touches on some of his games. First up is an email only game run by David E Cohen for the Mandate of Heaven variant. He discusses his interesting gameplay strategy - big shout out to his ally Rob (1 hr 46 mins 20 secs) Amby talks about his American Conflict game - a Civil War variant with the European powers joining in at the same time (https://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=56035#gamePanel) (1 hr 51 mins 15 secs) Next is his Imperial game as Britain (https://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=55996) (1 hr 54 mins 30 secs) The guys wrap up the show (2 hrs 2 mins 30 secs) Venue: Babylon, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner: 150 Lashes pale ale Amby: Kaesler shiraz from the Barossa Valley Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help pay off the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

Last time we spoke about the situation in the north pacific and the grand conclusion of the Chindits Operation Longcloth. The battle of the Komandorski islands had basically put a nail in the coffin that was the Aleutian islands campaign for japan. They could not hope to resupply Attu and Kiska properly, therefore America had a free hand to build up to invade them. Also the crazed Onion man Wingate had taken his boys in the fray of Burma and they paid heavily for it. Yes despite all the glory and fame that the propaganda perpetuated the operation had done, in reality, Wingate had sacrifice many lives for little gain. His erratic behavior led to dangerous decision making which took a toll on the men. In the end what can be said of the operation was it atleast provided something positive to boost morale for the British in the far east. But today we are going to speak about the falling of a major giant of the pacific war. This episode is Operation Vengeance  Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  Now two weeks ago I covered Operation I-Go and you may have noticed I sprinkled a bit of foreshadowing information here and there. But to catch you back up to speed so to say let me just summarize those events and the dire circumstances what person would find himself in.  It can easily be deduced by early 1943, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto knew Japan was staggering towards a catastrophic defeat. Rather ironically, he was one of those figures in Japan that tossed as much as his political influence could against the decision to go to war with america. He warned his high ranking colleagues of the great industrial might America held and that it would inevitably overwhelm Japan. His obsession over a decisive naval victory was driven mostly because he knew the only possible way for Japan to come out of WW2 positively was to bring America to the negotiating table as early as possible. But how does one do that exactly? Well Japan held a significant advantage over America in 1941, their Pacific Fleet was by far larger, vastly better trained and held considerable technological advantages. Thus like a game of Axis & Allies, a game I have been playing since I was a teenager and hope to livestream now and then for audiences like yourself, well like a good old game of Axis & Allies if you are the Axis you typically toss the kitchen sink at the offset of the war hoping to break the allies before their productive advantage gradually wins them the board. Yamamoto engineered the raid on Pearl Harbor to smash the US Pacific fleet enough to thwart them of any offensives for 6 months at minimum, though he definitely hoped for a year. After that his plan had always been to force america into a naval surface battle in the hopes of taking out their fleet and forcing them to negotiate. If they did not negotiate after that, well he hoped to buy Japan enough time to build a complex defensive perimeter which perhaps could be used to bleed Americans dry and thus gradually get them to come to terms. Well his obsession for the grand naval battle led him into a trap. Yes, a critical thing the Japanese overlooked during most of the Pacific War was code breaking. The Cryptanalysts at Station Hypo did miracles breaking the JN-25 code, leading them to deduce Admiral Yamamoto's operation MI was directed at Midway atoll. They had knowledge of the locations, the units and the timetables and they used this intelligence to set up a major trap for the combined fleet. The June 1942 disaster at Midway had been a major gambit aimed at forcing the war to an early conclusion, a gambit which fell apart. The losses at Midway meant the war was not to be a prolonged one, though it might surprise many of you to know, the chance of another decisive naval battle was not all but lost, it would just be harder to configure. Regardless the overall viewpoint after the failure at Midway now meant Japan had to fight a war of attrition, something Japan could not hope to win.  Yamamoto had obsessed himself and countless other high ranking figures that Midway was to be the decisive battle, but in reality it fell upon Guadalcanal. Yes the battle for Guadalcanal emerged the decisive battle they had all sought, but the Japanese high command were late to this conclusion. The Americans basically snuck onto the island in an extremely bold manner, forcing what became a horrifying bloody war. In the end the Americans won the battle for Guadalcanal and because of Japan's lackluster planning, this simultaneously led to the major loss of the Buna-Gona-Sanananda front as well. New Guinea and the Solomons were intertwined and Japan kept fumbling back and forth between them which inevitably was leading to them losing both. After the loss at Guadalcanal, Japan had lost the initiative for the Pacific War, now America was in the drivers seat. The battle of the Bismarck Sea proved to the Japanese high command, their sealanes were no longer safe. America was dominating Japan's ability to move men and supplies across the ocean through a war of attrition using airpower and submarines. The Japanese planners understood the allies were going to advance in two prongs; one through New Guinea and the other up the central and northern solomons. For the allies to advance, they required the construction of airfields along the way to provide air superiority to cover their surface fleets and transports of men and supplies. Japan had been massively depleted of ships, aircraft, trained men, resources in general, but one thing they still had an advantage over the allies was their airfields scattered about the Pacific.  On March 15th Japanese high command in Tokyo demanded plans be made to build a new defensive strategy in the central Pacific. The main idea was to build a stronger defensive perimeter emanating from Rabaul. Thus on the morning of April 3rd of 1943, Admirals Yamamoto and Ugaki, accompanied by more than a dozen officers of the combined Fleet staff boarded two Kawanishi flying boats and headed for Rabaul. Yamamoto and the high ranking figures scoured their maps and came up with what was needed to be done to meet this new demand. They needed to hinder the American airpowers advance up the Solomons and New Guinea, this meant hitting allied forward airfields. Four locations were chosen: Guadalcanal, Oro Bay, Port Moresby and Milne Bay. It was to be called Operation I-GO Sakusen and would be the responsibility of the IJN. Admirals Yamamoto and Jinichi Kusaka established temporary headquarters on Rabaul and began planning. The planning led to an incredible concentration of Japanese airpower. The 11th airfleet and 4 aircraft carriers of the 3rd fleet: Zuikaku, Zuiho, Junyo and Hiyo would amass a force of 224 aircraft. The airpower was going to be used to smash the 4 targets and then they would be dispersed to several airfields to mount a new defensive perimeter. They would be sent to places like Buka and Kahili on Bougainville and Ballale in the Shortland Islands. Admiral Yamamoto would personally supervise Operation I-GO as he took up quarters on a cottage high on a hill behind the town of Rabaul. He spent weeks inspecting airfields and other military installations, meeting with local army and navy commanders at various headquarters scattered about New Britain. As was his typical behavior, he bid farewell to departing air squadrons waving his hat to them. For 10 consecutive days, Japanese bombers and fighters hit their designated targets. More than 200 aircraft attacked Guadalcanal on April 7th, a raid larger than any attempted during the 5 month battle over the island. The Japanese pilots came back with extremely exaggerated claims of success. They claimed to have destroyed dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft. In reality operation I-Go amounted to the destruction of 25 aircraft, 1 destroyer, 1 corvette, 1 oil tanker and 2 transports. The Japanese had lost around 40 aircraft for this.  The Japanese high command including Yamamoto and even Emperor Hirohito bought the success stories. Hirohito send word stating “Please convey my satisfaction to the Commander in Chief, Combined Fleet, and tell him to enlarge the war result more than ever.” On the other side of the conflict, General Kenney had a more damning critique of the way Yamamoto used his air forces during Operation I-Go, “… the way he [Yamamoto] had failed to take advantage of his superiority in numbers and position since the first couple of months of the war was a disgrace to the airman's profession.” The reality was, the aircrews were not the same types that raided Pearl Harbor in 1941, no these men in 1943 were forgive me to say, kind of the bottom of the barrel types. Sure there remained some veterans and experiences men, but far and too few to trained what should have been a brand new generation of Japanese airpower. Japan had squandered their veterans and now she was paying a heavy price for it. On October 25th of 1942, Rear-Admiral Ugaki had written this in his diary “every time it rained heavily, about ten planes were damaged due to skidding.” The Japanese airfields were no match for the American Seabees who were performing miracles across the pacific building superior fields for their airpower. By contrast the Japanese could not hope to match this, they lacked resources and trained personnel. Operation I-GO in the end costed the allies advance 10 days. Yamamoto had his spirits lifted somewhat by Operation I-GO believing it to be a triumph. He announced he would conduct a one-day tour of forward bases at Buin, Ballale and Shortland Island set for April the 18th and this is where our story truly begins. Yamamoto's tour was sent over the radio waves using the JN-25D naval cypher to the 11th air flotilla and the 26th air flotilla. Admiral Yamamoto's operations officer Commander Yasuji Watanabe would go on the record complaining that the information about Yamamoto's visit to the Ballalae Airfield should had been done by courier and not by radio, but the communications officer replied “this code only went into effect on april 1st and cannot be broken”. The message was picked up by three stations of the “Magic” apparatus, the United States cryptanalysis project. One of the three stations ironically was the same team responsible for breaking the codes that led to Midway, station Hypo at Pearl Harbor. Major Alva B. Lasswell, a duty officer at Joseph Rochefort's Combat Intelligence Unit Station HYPO deciphered it and pronounced it to be a "jackpot". The message contained highly detailed information and it was easy to deduce the message was about Yamamoto. It contained his departure time: April 18, 06:00 Japanese Standard Time, 08:00 Guadalcanal Time set for Ballale, 08:00 Japanese Standard Time, 10:00 Guadalcanal Time.; his aircraft which was a G4M Betty and the number of his escorts, 6 Zeros; as well as the entire itinerary for his tour. Admiral Yamamoto's plane was going to be heading over the southern end of Bougainville on the morning of the 18th, a location that happened to be just within the fighter range of Henderson Field. Alva Bryan Lasswell and intelligence officer Jasper Holmes took the decrypted message to CINCPAC headquarters and handed it to the fleet intelligence officer Ed Layton who tossed it upon Admiral Nimitz desk a few minutes after 8 on April 14.  Nimitz scrutinized the chart on his wall and confirmed himself that Yamamoto's plane would enter airspace that could be reached by american fighters from Henderson. “He asked Layton “Do we try to get him?”. The question honestly was a tough one. Was it wrong to target the combined fleet chief based on some sort of convention upon military chivalry? Like most naval officers, Nimitz had interacted socially with Japanese officers during the interwar years. Nimitz was not a particularly vengeful nor bloody-minded man. In era's past, an American flag or general officer would certainly refuse to have his rival commander assassinated. For you American listeners, can you conceive George Washington ordering a hit on William Howe? How about Robert E Lee ordering a hit on Ulysses Grant? However war in the 20th century was not like the previous centuries. Hell even by the standards of the war in europe, the Pacific War was unbelievably more brutal. Honestly if you wanted a good book on the subject of how brutal the Pacific war was, try John D Dowers “War without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War”.  Now during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, cough cough if you want to hear about that one check out my Youtube channel, the IJA and IJN had strictly adhered to the rules of war. Russian prisoners were housed well, fed well, provided good medical care, given cigarettes and alcohol, the 2nd one very important to russians as we know haha. Those who died within captivity were even buried with military honors. During WW1 the Japanese took German prisoners after the siege of Tsingtau and treated them extremely well in Japan, let them parade the country with a band and such. In fact the treatment of the German POW's had a small hand to play in how Japan got into bed with Germany later, and honestly to this very day Japan and Germany have this special relationship. However, Japan certainly did not bring this type of chivalrous etiquette into the Pacific War.  Nimitz may have hesitated to give the order, but he knew full well of the Japanese actions in China, the Philippines, Malaya, Hong Kong, the East Indies, the Solomons. I guess you can say barbarity dishes out barbarity. Yet aside from the morality question, was it wise to kill Yamamoto? This was after all the man who planned and executed the disastrous Midway offensive losing 4 aircraft carriers with nearly all their aircraft. Yamamoto had also mismanaged the guadalcanal campaign by deploying air and troop reinforcements in piecemeals. He arguably was doing a good job losing the war. Layton knew Yamamoto personally and argued that he was the best-respected military leader in Japan and that his death “He's unique among their people… Aside from the Emperor, probably no man in Japan is so important to civilian morale. [His absence] would demoralize the fighting navy. You know Japanese psychology; it would stun the nation.”. Layton said to Nimitz “You know, Admiral Nimitz, it would be just as if they shot you down. There isn't anybody to replace you”. To this Nimitz smiled amusingly and replied “it's down in Halsey's bailiwick, if there's a way, he'll find it. All right, we'll try it”. Thus sealed the fate of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Thus Admiral Nimitz sent a “your eyes only” message to Admiral Halsey, alerting him to the situation and ordering a fighter interception with the concluding remarks “best of luck and good hunting”. Codenamed Operation Vengeance approved on the 14th, the assassination of Admiral Yamamoto was done under utmost secrecy to protect the cryptanalysis teams. It just so happened Halsey had already been informed of the operation in a chance encounter in Melbourne Australia. He was inspecting naval facilities in the city and dropped by the communications intelligence office where a yeoman named Kenneth Boulier was working on one of the draft decrypts. Halsey came to his desk and asked “what are you working on son?”. And when Boulier explained, Halsey raised his voice and addressed the entire unit “Goddamit, you people knock off this Yamamoto business! I'm going to get that sonofabitch myself!”. I guess one can say he was enthusiastic about the job. Halsey informed his subordinate air commanders, Admirals Aubrey Fitch and Marc Mitscher about the details of Operation vengeance. Southern Bougainville was roughly 400 miles away from Henderson field and the aircraft would need to take a roundabout route to evade detection. Thus the mission would require 1000 miles or so of flying, a range that would test the capabilities of even the longest legged American fighters. AirSols commander Mitscher called for a secret meeting of his staff on April 16th to figure out the logistics of the operation. It was determined that to intercept Yamamoto's flight, they should use Lockheed P-38 Lightnings which held a comparable range to that of the Zero fighter, though it would not alone be enough. They would need to use a lean fuel mixture and drop tanks to barely make the long flight. It was going to be quite tight, thus the timing had to be precise, or else the aircraft would burn their fuel while waiting for the enemy to make their appearance. Major John Mitchell of the 339th fighter squadron was assigned the commander of 18 P-38's piloted by handpicked airmen. 4 P-38's would be designated as “killers”, ie: the guys who would target Yamamoto's G4M Betty, while the other pilots would cover them against the Zero escorts. The killers were to be Captain Thomas Lanphier, Lieutenants Rex Barber, Joseph Moore and James McLanahan. They were going to intercept Yamamoto in the air just south of Empress August Bay.  Now the direct flight to Bougainville meant crossing over or very close to Japanese held islands which held observers. This meant they would need to veer far out to sea to avoid any visual contact made by Japanese coastwatchers. Likewise they would skim the ocean at wave-top height to avoid detection by Japanese radar. Mitchell plotted their missions course to remain at least 50 miles offshore. This also meant they would have no landmarks to use as checkpoints: it would have to be dead reckoning the entire way, flying by airspeed, clock and compass under strict radio silence for over 2 hours, until they saw the Bougainville coast. The strike force would depart guadalcanl at 7:20. Even after all the precision and planning, the lightning force would only have around 15 minutes to shoot down Yamamoto, this was a extremely tight one. Mitchell gave the odds of the operation succeeded about a thousand to one. Back over in Rabaul commanders like Admirals Ozawa and Jojima were trying to change Yamamotos mind about making the tour to the forward airbases thinking he was taking a large risk. Adamiral Ozawa argued with Captain Kameto Kuroshima, a senior member of Yamamoto's staff “If he insists on going, six fighters are nothing like enough. Tell the chief of staff that he can have as many of my planes as he likes.” Admiral Ugaki who was sick in the hospital with dengue ever tried to send a message to Yamamoto to not go on the tour. That message though it did not make it to Yamamoto directly was interceived by Admiral Jojima. Admiral Jojima argued “what a damn fool thing to do, to send such a long and detailed message about the activities of the Commander of the combined fleet so near the front. This kind of thing must stop” Jojima had actually flown over to Rabaul to stop Yamamoto, but Yamamoto did not back down. Yamamoto was a stickler for punctuality, he alongside his party arrived to Rabaul's Lakuni field a few minutes before 6am Japan time, thus around 8am rabaul time. The party wore their field green khai uniforms and airmens boots, aside from Yamamoto who wore his customary white dress uniform, with his usual white gloves carrying his ceremonial sword. Yamamoto climbed into one of the two G4M Betty medium bmbers and Ugaki climbed into the other. Yamamoto's Betty had the number 323 painted on its vertical stablizer. The planes roared down the runway and climbed. The weather was clear, with excellent visibility above and below the high ceiling. The aircraft leveled out at 6500 with the bombers holding a close formation, enough for Ugaki to clearly see Yamamoto through the windshield of the other plane. The fighters hung out at 8200 feet above them and around a mile around them. The formation headed southeast making its first landfall on the southern tip of new ireland, then south along the coast of Bougainville, past the Japanese bases at Buka and Kieta, then on to Ballale. Ugaki began to nod off as the group began its descent towards Ballale.    Major Mitchells strike group launched at 7:10 guadalcanal time, seeing 2 lightnings fail as a result of a blown tire for one and a fuel transfer problem for the other. Both aircraft were part of the killers team, thus Lieutenants Besby Holmes and Raymond Hine, were replaced with Joseph Moore and James McLanahan. Not a great way to start such a precise mission by any means. As they made the first leg of their route, the P-38's descended to 50 feet to avoid radar detection while the pilots had to endure extremely hot temperatures due to the sea level. The temperature was above 90 degrees as the sun blazed through their Perspex canopies causing the pilots to sweat like pigs. The P-38 was a high altitude fighter and its canopy could not open in flight to regulate the cockpit temperature. Thus instead it kind of acted like a convection oven, building up heat as the sun beat down on it. With nothing but hte sight of rolling waves for over 2 hours, the pilots could have very well dozed off. After 55 minutes of hte first leg, Mitchell turned right to 290 degrees then after another 27 minutes, 305 degrees. 38 minutes after this another 20 degree turn to make the 40 mile leg to the south edge of Empress Bay, all using clocks & compass.  As they crossed the bay they turned 90 degrees and were around 4 minutes from their calculated interception point. The lightnings began to close in and made sight of the southwest corner of Bougainville. In an act of extraordinary navigation they hit the precise location intended at 9:34am, a single minute ahead of schedule. Right on top of them, passing serenly overhead was the Yamamoto and unfortuntately for him, security was quite lax. You see the Japanese held air superiority at Buin, thus they did not anticipate any enemy action. Alongside this the escort zero's had their radiots stripped out to reduce their weight. This meant they would not be able to communicate with the Betty's. Ugaki's Betty was carrying its regular armament of 3 13mm guns and 1 20mm gun, but because of the weight of the munition boxes, only a single belt was filled up for each. As for Yamamoto's Betty, there does not seem to be evidence it was armed at all. Mitchell was shocked to see the two Betty bombers, the intelligence had told them one. This somewhat disrupted his plan not knowing where the escorts were hiding, futhermore 2 lightnings piloted by Lieutenants Besby Holmes and Raymond Hine had to pull out when their belly tanks were released and it caused a technical problem. Thus Mitchell had only half the fighters as planned and now faced double the Betty's. He did not know which Betty was Yamamoto's, but with icy resolve he did not improvise the plan and ordered Captain Lamphier to attack as planned stating “he's your meat, tom”. The rest of the lightnings climbed to perform CAP actions as Mitchell expected the Japanese air base at Kahili to toss some zeros over to greet Yamamoto. None would come, another toss of the dice of fate as it were. As Ugaki recounts the event, at 9:43 he was awoken when his plane suddenly began a steep diving turn. The pilot was unsure what was happening, but all of a sudden evasive maneuvers of the Zero escorts alerted him something was wrong. The dark green canopy of the jungle hills were closing in on them as the gunnery opened up the gun ports to prepare firing. Between the rushing wind from the openings and the guns things were incredibly noisy. Ugaki told the pilot to try and remain with Yamamoto's plane, but it was too late. As Ugaki's plane banked south he caught a glimpse of Yamamoto's plane “staggering southward, just brushing the jungle top with reduced speed, emitting black smoke and flames.” Ugaki lost visual contact for some time then only saw a column of smoke rising rom the jungle. Ugaki's pilot flew over Cape Moira and out to sea, descending steadily to gain speed. Two lightnings were on their ass and some .50 caliber rounds slammed into their wings and fuselage. The pilot frantically trid pulling up, but his propellers dug into the sea causing the Betty to roll hard to the left. Ugaki was tossed from his seat and slammed agianst an interior bulkhead. As water flooded the aircraft he thought “this is the end of Ugaki”. But luckily for him, and 3 other passengers they managed to get free and swim to the beach as they were helped ashore by Japanese soldiers and transported to Buin. Despite his miraculous survival, Ugaki's injuries were severe, including a severed radial artery and compound fracture of the right arm, which would leave him out of action until 1944 From the American point of few, they came upon the Japanese formation catching them by complete surprise. The escorting Zeros were flying above the bombers, scanning hte horizon ahead of them to the south and now suspected American fighters would be approaching them from behind at a lower altitude. There are quite a few accounts of how this went down, but by all of them Lamphier climbed to the left, going nose to nose with 3 escorting Zeros, while Lt Rex Barber banked to the right. In response all 6 of the Zeros made a straight dive from their higer altitude position to get between the bombers and the lightnings. Rather than firing directly at the American fighters, they kept their firing infront of the lightnings trying to prevent their line of sight meeting up with the bombers. With the eruption of the choas, both Betty's accelerated into their dives, distancing themselves. One plane banked right going southwest towards the shoreline while the other banked left going east. Now what follows next has actually been a fight going on for decades with all participants going to their grave swearing their perspective was the legitimate account of the event. Lamphier's story, which is by far the most well known, states he quickly engaged the 3 diving Zeros to the left, managing to shoot down one before twisting away to attack the Betty's. He found the lead Betty skimming the jungle, heading for Kahili and dived in pursuit of it. With the other 2 zeros chasing to cut him off, Lamphier held course and fired a long steady burst across the Betty's course of flight. He watched the Betty's right engine and right wing catch on fire and in his words “the bomber's wing tore off. The bomber plunged into the jungle. It exploded. That was the end of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.” While racing out over the open sea towards Moila Point, Ugaki himself was horrified to see the funeral pyre of Yamamoto's crashed bomber. But at the same time, Rex Barber tells a different story.  Rex claims Lamphier's initial maneuver going to the left was smart, as it allowed Barber the opportunity to attack the bombers without the Zeroes being on his tail. Thus Rex banked sharply to the right to fall in behind one of the Betty's. At around 1000 feet above the jungle canopy, Rex opened fire, aiming over the fuselage at the right engine. Rex could see chunks of the Betty's engine and fires emerge as he continued to ranke the Bettey with his guns, until the Betty suddenly stopped in mid-air, nearly colliding with him before crashing into the jungle below. Rex also claimed the Betty did not fire back at all. The zero escorts however did catch up to him, but the sudden appearance of Lt's Besby Holmes and Raymond Hine saved him as they shot down the 3 zeros.  Heading to the coasts, Holmes and Hine pursued the remaining Betty and fired upon it scoring some hits. Rex also dropped in behind what is assumed to be Ugaki's Betty firing a burst over it before it hit the water. Holmes claimed to have shot down Ugaki's Betty by himself. Rex states that “Holmes rounds must have hit the tanks and filled the bomber swings with gas fumes, because the ship exploded in his face”. As Rex flew through the black smoke and debris a large chunk of the Betty hit his right wing cutting out his turbo supercharger intercooler. Meanwhile Holmes and Hine were dog fighting two more Zeros. Holmes would claim to have shot one of the zeros down, making his total around 3 Zeros and one betty; Hine's lightning was damaged in the fight forcing him to head east out to sea with smoke trailing his engine. Hine would be last seen around 9:40am, he was to be the only allied casualty of operation Vengeance. With both Betty's down, the mission was done and Mitchell ordered a withdrawal. The lightning's each headed home individually, operating at the limit of their range and suffering the hot weather. The controversy over who shot down Yamamoto's aircraft would begin the moment the pilots got back to base. In the words of Lt Julius Jacobson “there were 15 of us who survived, and as far as who did the effective shooting, who cares?” Yamamoto's plane had gone down about 4 miles inland, in a remote part of the jungle. Search parties took over a day to find the wreck. On April 20th they found the wrecked aircraft, there were no survivors. According to eyewitness testimony, Yamamoto was found sitting upright, still strapped to his seat, with one white gloved hand resting upon his katana. Yamamoto's watch had stopped at 0745hrs. A bullet had entered his lower jaw and went out from his temple; another pierced his shoulder blade. Yamamoto's body was wrapped in banyan leaves and carried down a trail to the mouth of the Wamai River, where it was taken to Buin by sea. His body would be cremated alongside the 11 other men aboard that Betty,  in a pit filled with brushwood and gasoline and his ashes were flown back to Truk and deposited on a Buddhist altar in the Musashi's war operations room.  New's of Yamamoto's death was at first restricted to a small circle of ranking officers, and passageways around the operations room and the commander in chiefs cabin were placed off limits. But the truth eventually leaked out to the crew of Musashi. Admiral Ugaki was seen in bandages holding a white box containing Yamamoto's ashes as he came aboard and the smell of incense wafted from his cabin. Admiral Mineichi Koga was named the new commander in chief. For over a month the news was kept under wraps. On May 22nd, Yamamoto's death was heard on the NHK news. The announcer broke into tears as he read the announcement. A special train carried the slain admiral's ashes from Yokosuka to Tokyo. An imperial party, including members of the royal household and family greeted its arrival at Ueno Station. As diarist Kiyoshi Kiyosawa noted “There is widespread sentiment of dark foreboding about the future course of the war”. Admiral Yamamoto was awarded posthumously the Grand Order of the Chrysanthemum, first class and the rank of Fleet admiral. His funeral was held on June 5th, the first anniversary of the battle of Midway, which also coincided with the funeral of the legendary Admiral Togo Heihachiro, 9 years previously. It was held in Hibiya park with hundreds of thousands coming to pay their respects. Pallbearers were selected from among the petty officers of the Musashi, carrying his casket draped in white cloth past the Diet and Imperial Palace. The Navy band played Chopin's funeral march as the casket was driven to Tama Cemetery where it was placed in a grave alongside that of Admiral Togo. Some sought to make a Yamamoto shrine, but his close friend Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai said “Yamamoto hated that kind of thing. If you deified him, he'd be more embarrassed than anybody else”.  The new commander in chief of the combined fleet, Admiral Koga Mineichi would later say “There was only one Yamamoto and no one is able to replace him. His loss is an unsupportable blow to us.”  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Operation Vengeance was a success, leading to the death of the legendary, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Would his death help or worsen the allied war effort? For that question to be answered only time could tell.

On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to a group of London merchants for exclusive overseas trading rights with the East Indies. The new English East India Company was a monopoly in the sense that no other British subjects could legally trade in that territory, but it faced stiff competition from the Spanish and Portuguese, who already had trading outposts in India, and also the Dutch East Indies Company, founded in 1602. Before the East India Company, most clothes in England were made out of wool and designed for durability, not fashion. But that began to change as British markets were flooded with inexpensive, beautifully woven cotton textiles from India, where each region of the country produced cloth in different colors and patterns. When a new pattern arrived, it would suddenly become all the rage on the streets of London. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the EIC earned rights to collect land revenue in Bengal. diversifying it into a tax collector. With the colonization of North America, a vast global market opened up for trade in goods across various colonial regions.  

"There's no such thing as an unfashionable hero or an unsuitable heiress." Hot off their five-hour excursion into Swishbuckler Cinema, hosts John Cribbs and Christopher Funderburg trace the sordid subgenre's origins to George MacDonald Fraser's expansive series of novels featuring Harry Paget Flashman, a self-described "scoundrel with no proper feelings" who often finds himself cowering miserably in the middle of some of the 19th century's greatest military disasters. For this episode, our hosts randomly selected Flashman's Lady (1977), the sixth book of the 12-part "Flashman Papers," to see how successful the author was at mixing rousing adventure with rakish humor. From performing the first hat trick in a cricket match to crossing swords with East Indies pirates and being enslaved in Madagascar, unscrupulous cad and insatiable lecher Flashman never misses an opportunity to represent all the worst elements of colonial Victorian England...yet somehow comes off as delightfully roguish? The discussion digs into the series' multi-layered parody of historical texts, MacDonald Fraser's irreverent razing of cultural myth and how a morally repugnant character can still be appealing as a narrator and leading character within the framework of picaresque fiction. Support our Patreon! All Pink Smoke Podcast episodes are made available a week early to our Patreon subscribers, the most sophisticated and noble of all listeners: www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke The Pink Smoke site: www.thepinksmoke.com John Cribbs on Twitter: twitter.com/TheLastMachine The Pink Smoke on Twitter: twitter.com/thepinksmoke Christopher Funderburg on Twitter: twitter.com/cfunderburg Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two” Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"

Tonight, by listener request, we'll read the opening to Swiss Family Robinson, a novel by Johann David Wyss, about a Swiss family shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Australia. This episode first aired in February 2020. Wyss, a Swiss pastor, originally wrote this book to entertain and instruct his four sons. Years later, one of his sons, persuaded his father to allow him to complete and edit the unfinished manuscript. It was published in Zurich in 1812. — read by M — Support us: Listen ad-free on Patreon Get Snoozecast merch like cozy sweatshirts and accessories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest Lectionary: 180All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is Saint Francis XavierJesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him. Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534, joined his little community, the infant Society of Jesus. Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity, obedience, and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope. From Venice, where he was ordained a priest in 1537, Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans, and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India. Wherever he went, Xavier lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy. Xavier went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct, and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland, he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa. He and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux were declared co-patrons of the missions in 1925. Reflection All of us are called to “go and preach to all nations—see Matthew 28:19. Our preaching is not necessarily on distant shores but to our families, our children, our husband or wife, our coworkers. And we are called to preach not with words, but by our everyday lives. Only by sacrifice, the giving up of all selfish gain, could Francis Xavier be free to bear the Good News to the world. Sacrifice is leaving yourself behind at times for a greater good, the good of prayer, the good of helping someone in need, the good of just listening to another. The greatest gift we have is our time. Francis Xavier gave his to others. Saint Francis Xavier is a Patron Saint of: Japan Jewelers Missions Sailors Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Illicit commerce was key to the survival of the mid-Atlantic colonies from the Golden Age of Piracy to the battles of the American Revolution. Out of this exciting time came beloved villains like Captain William Kidd and Black Sam Bellamy, as well as inspiring locals like Captain Shelley and James Forten. From the shores of New York to the oceans of the East Indies, from Delaware Bay to the islands of the West Indies, author Jamie L.H. Goodall illuminates the height of piratical depredations in the mid-Atlantic in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Jamie L.H. Goodall, PhD, is staff historian with the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C. She has a PhD in history from The Ohio State University, with specializations in Atlantic world, early American and military histories. Goodall is an expert on Golden Age piracy and has published with The History Press/Arcadia Publishing, the Washington Post and National Geographic. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband, Kyle, and her Boxers, Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler.

In October of 1628, the Dutch East India Company's flagship, the Batavia, set sail from the Netherlands and was headed to the East Indies where they were to collect a massive amount of spices. There were over 300 people aboard the ship but some of them would never make it to their destination because a member of the crew had very sinister plans. Instagram: @CousinsonCrimePodcast Email: CousinsonCrime@gmail.com Music by AleXZavesa Sources: https://www.sea.museum/2016/06/04/barbarism-and-brutality-surviving-the-batavia-shipwreck https://www.mamamia.com.au/murder-island-batavia-story/ https://museum.wa.gov.au/research/research-areas/maritime-archaeology/batavia-cape-inscription/batavia https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/wreck-of-the-batavia https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/new-mass-grave-batavia-shipwreck-murder-australia-history https://www.amazon.com/Shipwreck-Psycho-Michael-Swain/dp/B07NVZC3VS

Series Announcement: 7 Voyages Sindbad The Sailor (Hindi) सिंदबाद जहाजी की ७ समुद्र यात्राए : The stories of Sindbad's travails, which were a relatively late addition to The Thousand and One Nights, were based on the experiences of merchants from Basra (Iraq) trading under great risk with the East Indies and China, probably in the early ʿAbbāsid period (750–c. 850). A strong infusion of the miraculous in the stories has exaggerated the dangers encountered. In the frame story Sindbad is marooned or shipwrecked after he sets sail from Basra with merchandise. He is able to survive the terrible dangers he encounters by a combination of resourcefulness and luck and returns home with a fortune. Sindbad's movement from prosperity to loss, experienced during a voyage filled with adventure, and back to prosperity, achieved when he returns home, is repeated in the structure of each tale. . Connect with us : instagram.com/podcastaudios  facebook.com/podcastaudios twitter.com/podcastaudios Our Website : www.creativeaudios.in --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/creativecellsaudios.in/support

Swashbuckling adventure during the great Age of Sail. With Bonaparte held to a stalemate in Europe, the race to empire is now resumed. Britain's ambitions turn to the Spice Islands, the Dutch East Indies, where Admiral Pellew has been sent to confront the enemy's vastly rich holdings in these tropical islands. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd joins reinforcements to snatch these for the British Crown. The two colonial masters of India and the East Indies face each other in mortal striving for the region—there can be only one victor to hold all the spoils. The colonial genius, Stamford Raffles, believes Britain should strike at the very centre of Dutch spice production, the Moluccas, rather than the fortresses one by one but is fiercely opposed. Kydd, allying himself to this cause, conspires to lead a tiny force to a triumphant conclusion—however the Dutch, stung by this loss, claim vengeance from the French. A battle for Java and an empire in the East stretches Kydd and Tyger's company to their very limits.

The Journey (A Changing Southampton). Despite the fact that the history of people from the Indian Sub-continent is part of British because India was a vital part of the British Empire. The economic wealth it provided being as important as the Industrial Revolution. Despite its importance generally far too little is known about the experience of the people who are now Southampton citizens but who came from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.   Slavery in what we now know as South Africa began soon after Jan van Riebeeck set up a Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 to supply provisions to Dutch ships plying trade routes to and from India and the East Indies, people from India were taken to the Cape and sold into slavery to do domestic work for the settlers, as well the dirty and hard work on the farms.

Bruce Campbell stars in the mostly forgotten 2000 action/comedy/spy series "Jack of All Trades," set in a tiny East Indies island during 1801. Jack Stiles and his alter ego The Daring Dragoon foil French nobility and make inappropriate comments to their coworker in this throwback to a bygone era of television. Part of the Rerun Summer series. You can find the Spy-Fi Guys at the following social media links: https://www.facebook.com/thespyfiguys/ https://twitter.com/thespyfiguys https://www.instagram.com/thespyfiguys/

The Pirates of Libertalia were enmeshed with warring Malagasy Kingdoms. Those kingdoms set aside their differences to expel the Pirates. The Pirate History Podcast is a member of the Airwave Media Podcast Network. If you'd like to advertise on The Pirate History Podcast, please contact sales@advertisecast.com Sources : A New History of the East Indies by Alexander Hamilton A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson The Pirate's Pact by Douglas R. Burgess Jr. The Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies from British History Online Honor Among Thieves by Jan Rogozinski Madagascar, or Robert Drury's Journal Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology by David Graeber Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pale young gentleman and I stood contemplating one another in Barnard's Inn, until we both burst out laughing. “The idea of its being you!” said he. “The idea of its being you!” said I. And then we contemplated one another afresh, and laughed again. “Well!” said the pale young gentleman, reaching out his hand good-humoredly, “it's all over now, I hope, and it will be magnanimous in you if you'll forgive me for having knocked you about so.”I derived from this speech that Mr. Herbert Pocket (for Herbert was the pale young gentleman's name) still rather confounded his intention with his execution. But I made a modest reply, and we shook hands warmly.“You hadn't come into your good fortune at that time?” said Herbert Pocket.“No,” said I.“No,” he acquiesced: “I heard it had happened very lately. I was rather on the lookout for good fortune then.”“Indeed?”“Yes. Miss Havisham had sent for me, to see if she could take a fancy to me. But she couldn't⁠—at all events, she didn't.”I thought it polite to remark that I was surprised to hear that.“Bad taste,” said Herbert, laughing, “but a fact. Yes, she had sent for me on a trial visit, and if I had come out of it successfully, I suppose I should have been provided for; perhaps I should have been what-you-may-called it to Estella.”“What's that?” I asked, with sudden gravity.He was arranging his fruit in plates while we talked, which divided his attention, and was the cause of his having made this lapse of a word. “Affianced,” he explained, still busy with the fruit. “Betrothed. Engaged. What's-his-named. Any word of that sort.”“How did you bear your disappointment?” I asked.“Pooh!” said he, “I didn't care much for it. She's a tartar.”“Miss Havisham?”“I don't say no to that, but I meant Estella. That girl's hard and haughty and capricious to the last degree, and has been brought up by Miss Havisham to wreak revenge on all the male sex.”“What relation is she to Miss Havisham?”“None,” said he. “Only adopted.”“Why should she wreak revenge on all the male sex? What revenge?”“Lord, Mr. Pip!” said he. “Don't you know?”“No,” said I.“Dear me! It's quite a story, and shall be saved till dinnertime. And now let me take the liberty of asking you a question. How did you come there, that day?”I told him, and he was attentive until I had finished, and then burst out laughing again, and asked me if I was sore afterwards? I didn't ask him if he was, for my conviction on that point was perfectly established.“Mr. Jaggers is your guardian, I understand?” he went on.“Yes.”“You know he is Miss Havisham's man of business and solicitor, and has her confidence when nobody else has?”This was bringing me (I felt) towards dangerous ground. I answered with a constraint I made no attempt to disguise, that I had seen Mr. Jaggers in Miss Havisham's house on the very day of our combat, but never at any other time, and that I believed he had no recollection of having ever seen me there.“He was so obliging as to suggest my father for your tutor, and he called on my father to propose it. Of course he knew about my father from his connection with Miss Havisham. My father is Miss Havisham's cousin; not that that implies familiar intercourse between them, for he is a bad courtier and will not propitiate her.”Herbert Pocket had a frank and easy way with him that was very taking. I had never seen anyone then, and I have never seen anyone since, who more strongly expressed to me, in every look and tone, a natural incapacity to do anything secret and mean. There was something wonderfully hopeful about his general air, and something that at the same time whispered to me he would never be very successful or rich. I don't know how this was. I became imbued with the notion on that first occasion before we sat down to dinner, but I cannot define by what means.He was still a pale young gentleman, and had a certain conquered languor about him in the midst of his spirits and briskness, that did not seem indicative of natural strength. He had not a handsome face, but it was better than handsome: being extremely amiable and cheerful. His figure was a little ungainly, as in the days when my knuckles had taken such liberties with it, but it looked as if it would always be light and young. Whether Mr. Trabb's local work would have sat more gracefully on him than on me, may be a question; but I am conscious that he carried off his rather old clothes much better than I carried off my new suit.As he was so communicative, I felt that reserve on my part would be a bad return unsuited to our years. I therefore told him my small story, and laid stress on my being forbidden to inquire who my benefactor was. I further mentioned that as I had been brought up a blacksmith in a country place, and knew very little of the ways of politeness, I would take it as a great kindness in him if he would give me a hint whenever he saw me at a loss or going wrong.“With pleasure,” said he, “though I venture to prophesy that you'll want very few hints. I dare say we shall be often together, and I should like to banish any needless restraint between us. Will you do me the favour to begin at once to call me by my Christian name, Herbert?”I thanked him and said I would. I informed him in exchange that my Christian name was Philip.“I don't take to Philip,” said he, smiling, “for it sounds like a moral boy out of the spelling-book, who was so lazy that he fell into a pond, or so fat that he couldn't see out of his eyes, or so avaricious that he locked up his cake till the mice ate it, or so determined to go a bird's-nesting that he got himself eaten by bears who lived handy in the neighborhood. I tell you what I should like. We are so harmonious, and you have been a blacksmith⁠—would you mind it?”“I shouldn't mind anything that you propose,” I answered, “but I don't understand you.”“Would you mind Handel for a familiar name? There's a charming piece of music by Handel, called the Harmonious Blacksmith.”“I should like it very much.”“Then, my dear Handel,” said he, turning round as the door opened, “here is the dinner, and I must beg of you to take the top of the table, because the dinner is of your providing.”This I would not hear of, so he took the top, and I faced him. It was a nice little dinner⁠—seemed to me then a very Lord Mayor's Feast⁠—and it acquired additional relish from being eaten under those independent circumstances, with no old people by, and with London all around us. This again was heightened by a certain gypsy character that set the banquet off; for while the table was, as Mr. Pumblechook might have said, the lap of luxury⁠—being entirely furnished forth from the coffeehouse⁠—the circumjacent region of sitting room was of a comparatively pastureless and shifty character; imposing on the waiter the wandering habits of putting the covers on the floor (where he fell over them), the melted butter in the armchair, the bread on the bookshelves, the cheese in the coal-scuttle, and the boiled fowl into my bed in the next room⁠—where I found much of its parsley and butter in a state of congelation when I retired for the night. All this made the feast delightful, and when the waiter was not there to watch me, my pleasure was without alloy.We had made some progress in the dinner, when I reminded Herbert of his promise to tell me about Miss Havisham.“True,” he replied. “I'll redeem it at once. Let me introduce the topic, Handel, by mentioning that in London it is not the custom to put the knife in the mouth⁠—for fear of accidents⁠—and that while the fork is reserved for that use, it is not put further in than necessary. It is scarcely worth mentioning, only it's as well to do as other people do. Also, the spoon is not generally used overhand, but under. This has two advantages. You get at your mouth better (which after all is the object), and you save a good deal of the attitude of opening oysters, on the part of the right elbow.”He offered these friendly suggestions in such a lively way, that we both laughed and I scarcely blushed.“Now,” he pursued, “concerning Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham, you must know, was a spoilt child. Her mother died when she was a baby, and her father denied her nothing. Her father was a country gentleman down in your part of the world, and was a brewer. I don't know why it should be a crack thing to be a brewer; but it is indisputable that while you cannot possibly be genteel and bake, you may be as genteel as never was and brew. You see it every day.”“Yet a gentleman may not keep a public house; may he?” said I.“Not on any account,” returned Herbert; “but a public house may keep a gentleman. Well! Mr. Havisham was very rich and very proud. So was his daughter.”“Miss Havisham was an only child?” I hazarded.“Stop a moment, I am coming to that. No, she was not an only child; she had a half-brother. Her father privately married again⁠—his cook, I rather think.”“I thought he was proud,” said I.“My good Handel, so he was. He married his second wife privately, because he was proud, and in course of time she died. When she was dead, I apprehend he first told his daughter what he had done, and then the son became a part of the family, residing in the house you are acquainted with. As the son grew a young man, he turned out riotous, extravagant, undutiful⁠—altogether bad. At last his father disinherited him; but he softened when he was dying, and left him well off, though not nearly so well off as Miss Havisham.⁠—Take another glass of wine, and excuse my mentioning that society as a body does not expect one to be so strictly conscientious in emptying one's glass, as to turn it bottom upwards with the rim on one's nose.”I had been doing this, in an excess of attention to his recital. I thanked him, and apologized. He said, “Not at all,” and resumed.“Miss Havisham was now an heiress, and you may suppose was looked after as a great match. Her half-brother had now ample means again, but what with debts and what with new madness wasted them most fearfully again. There were stronger differences between him and her than there had been between him and his father, and it is suspected that he cherished a deep and mortal grudge against her as having influenced the father's anger. Now, I come to the cruel part of the story⁠—merely breaking off, my dear Handel, to remark that a dinner-napkin will not go into a tumbler.”Why I was trying to pack mine into my tumbler, I am wholly unable to say. I only know that I found myself, with a perseverance worthy of a much better cause, making the most strenuous exertions to compress it within those limits. Again I thanked him and apologized, and again he said in the cheerfullest manner, “Not at all, I am sure!” and resumed.“There appeared upon the scene⁠—say at the races, or the public balls, or anywhere else you like⁠—a certain man, who made love to Miss Havisham. I never saw him (for this happened five-and-twenty years ago, before you and I were, Handel), but I have heard my father mention that he was a showy man, and the kind of man for the purpose. But that he was not to be, without ignorance or prejudice, mistaken for a gentleman, my father most strongly asseverates; because it is a principle of his that no man who was not a true gentleman at heart ever was, since the world began, a true gentleman in manner. He says, no varnish can hide the grain of the wood; and that the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself. Well! This man pursued Miss Havisham closely, and professed to be devoted to her. I believe she had not shown much susceptibility up to that time; but all the susceptibility she possessed certainly came out then, and she passionately loved him. There is no doubt that she perfectly idolized him. He practised on her affection in that systematic way, that he got great sums of money from her, and he induced her to buy her brother out of a share in the brewery (which had been weakly left him by his father) at an immense price, on the plea that when he was her husband he must hold and manage it all. Your guardian was not at that time in Miss Havisham's counsels, and she was too haughty and too much in love to be advised by anyone. Her relations were poor and scheming, with the exception of my father; he was poor enough, but not timeserving or jealous. The only independent one among them, he warned her that she was doing too much for this man, and was placing herself too unreservedly in his power. She took the first opportunity of angrily ordering my father out of the house, in his presence, and my father has never seen her since.”I thought of her having said, “Matthew will come and see me at last when I am laid dead upon that table;” and I asked Herbert whether his father was so inveterate against her?“It's not that,” said he, “but she charged him, in the presence of her intended husband, with being disappointed in the hope of fawning upon her for his own advancement, and, if he were to go to her now, it would look true⁠—even to him⁠—and even to her. To return to the man and make an end of him. The marriage day was fixed, the wedding dresses were bought, the wedding tour was planned out, the wedding guests were invited. The day came, but not the bridegroom. He wrote her a letter⁠—”“Which she received,” I struck in, “when she was dressing for her marriage? At twenty minutes to nine?”“At the hour and minute,” said Herbert, nodding, “at which she afterwards stopped all the clocks. What was in it, further than that it most heartlessly broke the marriage off, I can't tell you, because I don't know. When she recovered from a bad illness that she had, she laid the whole place waste, as you have seen it, and she has never since looked upon the light of day.”“Is that all the story?” I asked, after considering it.“All I know of it; and indeed I only know so much, through piecing it out for myself; for my father always avoids it, and, even when Miss Havisham invited me to go there, told me no more of it than it was absolutely requisite I should understand. But I have forgotten one thing. It has been supposed that the man to whom she gave her misplaced confidence acted throughout in concert with her half-brother; that it was a conspiracy between them; and that they shared the profits.”“I wonder he didn't marry her and get all the property,” said I.“He may have been married already, and her cruel mortification may have been a part of her half-brother's scheme,” said Herbert. “Mind! I don't know that.”“What became of the two men?” I asked, after again considering the subject.“They fell into deeper shame and degradation⁠—if there can be deeper⁠—and ruin.”“Are they alive now?”“I don't know.”“You said just now that Estella was not related to Miss Havisham, but adopted. When adopted?”Herbert shrugged his shoulders. “There has always been an Estella, since I have heard of a Miss Havisham. I know no more. And now, Handel,” said he, finally throwing off the story as it were, “there is a perfectly open understanding between us. All that I know about Miss Havisham, you know.”“And all that I know,” I retorted, “you know.”“I fully believe it. So there can be no competition or perplexity between you and me. And as to the condition on which you hold your advancement in life⁠—namely, that you are not to inquire or discuss to whom you owe it⁠—you may be very sure that it will never be encroached upon, or even approached, by me, or by anyone belonging to me.”In truth, he said this with so much delicacy, that I felt the subject done with, even though I should be under his father's roof for years and years to come. Yet he said it with so much meaning, too, that I felt he as perfectly understood Miss Havisham to be my benefactress, as I understood the fact myself.It had not occurred to me before, that he had led up to the theme for the purpose of clearing it out of our way; but we were so much the lighter and easier for having broached it, that I now perceived this to be the case. We were very gay and sociable, and I asked him, in the course of conversation, what he was? He replied, “A capitalist⁠—an Insurer of Ships.” I suppose he saw me glancing about the room in search of some tokens of shipping, or capital, for he added, “In the City.”I had grand ideas of the wealth and importance of Insurers of Ships in the City, and I began to think with awe of having laid a young Insurer on his back, blackened his enterprising eye, and cut his responsible head open. But again there came upon me, for my relief, that odd impression that Herbert Pocket would never be very successful or rich.“I shall not rest satisfied with merely employing my capital in insuring ships. I shall buy up some good Life Assurance shares, and cut into the direction. I shall also do a little in the mining way. None of these things will interfere with my chartering a few thousand tons on my own account. I think I shall trade,” said he, leaning back in his chair, “to the East Indies, for silks, shawls, spices, dyes, drugs, and precious woods. It's an interesting trade.”“And the profits are large?” said I.“Tremendous!” said he.I wavered again, and began to think here were greater expectations than my own.“I think I shall trade, also,” said he, putting his thumbs in his waistcoat pockets, “to the West Indies, for sugar, tobacco, and rum. Also to Ceylon, specially for elephants' tusks.”“You will want a good many ships,” said I.“A perfect fleet,” said he.Quite overpowered by the magnificence of these transactions, I asked him where the ships he insured mostly traded to at present?“I haven't begun insuring yet,” he replied. “I am looking about me.”Somehow, that pursuit seemed more in keeping with Barnard's Inn. I said (in a tone of conviction), “Ah-h!”“Yes. I am in a countinghouse, and looking about me.”“Is a countinghouse profitable?” I asked.“To⁠—do you mean to the young fellow who's in it?” he asked, in reply.“Yes; to you.”“Why, n-no; not to me.” He said this with the air of one carefully reckoning up and striking a balance. “Not directly profitable. That is, it doesn't pay me anything, and I have to⁠—keep myself.”This certainly had not a profitable appearance, and I shook my head as if I would imply that it would be difficult to lay by much accumulative capital from such a source of income.“But the thing is,” said Herbert Pocket, “that you look about you. That's the grand thing. You are in a countinghouse, you know, and you look about you.”It struck me as a singular implication that you couldn't be out of a countinghouse, you know, and look about you; but I silently deferred to his experience.“Then the time comes,” said Herbert, “when you see your opening. And you go in, and you swoop upon it and you make your capital, and then there you are! When you have once made your capital, you have nothing to do but employ it.”This was very like his way of conducting that encounter in the garden; very like. His manner of bearing his poverty, too, exactly corresponded to his manner of bearing that defeat. It seemed to me that he took all blows and buffets now with just the same air as he had taken mine then. It was evident that he had nothing around him but the simplest necessaries, foreverything that I remarked upon turned out to have been sent in on my account from the coffeehouse or somewhere else.Yet, having already made his fortune in his own mind, he was so unassuming with it that I felt quite grateful to him for not being puffed up. It was a pleasant addition to his naturally pleasant ways, and we got on famously. In the evening we went out for a walk in the streets, and went half-price to the Theatre; and next day we went to church at Westminster Abbey, and in the afternoon we walked in the Parks; and I wondered who shod all the horses there, and wished Joe did.On a moderate computation, it was many months, that Sunday, since I had left Joe and Biddy. The space interposed between myself and them partook of that expansion, and our marshes were any distance off. That I could have been at our old church in my old churchgoing clothes, on the very last Sunday that ever was, seemed a combination of impossibilities, geographical and social, solar and lunar. Yet in the London streets so crowded with people and so brilliantly lighted in the dusk of evening, there were depressing hints of reproaches for that I had put the poor old kitchen at home so far away; and in the dead of night, the footsteps of some incapable impostor of a porter mooning about Barnard's Inn, under pretence of watching it, fell hollow on my heart.On the Monday morning at a quarter before nine, Herbert went to the countinghouse to report himself⁠—to look about him, too, I suppose⁠—and I bore him company. He was to come away in an hour or two to attend me to Hammersmith, and I was to wait about for him. It appeared to me that the eggs from which young Insurers were hatched were incubated in dust and heat, like the eggs of ostriches, judging from the places to which those incipient giants repaired on a Monday morning. Nor did the countinghouse where Herbert assisted, show in my eyes as at all a good observatory; being a back second floor up a yard, of a grimy presence in all particulars, and with a look into another back second floor, rather than a look out.I waited about until it was noon, and I went upon 'Change, and I saw fluey men sitting there under the bills about shipping, whom I took to be great merchants, though I couldn't understand why they should all be out of spirits. When Herbert came, we went and had lunch at a celebrated house which I then quite venerated, but now believe to have been the most abject superstition in Europe, and where I could not help noticing, even then, that there was much more gravy on the tablecloths and knives and waiters' clothes, than in the steaks. This collation disposed of at a moderate price (considering the grease, which was not charged for), we went back to Barnard's Inn and got my little portmanteau, and then took coach for Hammersmith. We arrived there at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, and had very little way to walk to Mr. Pocket's house. Lifting the latch of a gate, we passed direct into a little garden overlooking the river, where Mr. Pocket's children were playing about. And unless I deceive myself on a point where my interests or prepossessions are certainly not concerned, I saw that Mr. and Mrs. Pocket's children were not growing up or being brought up, but were tumbling up.Mrs. Pocket was sitting on a garden chair under a tree, reading, with her legs upon another garden chair; and Mrs. Pocket's two nursemaids were looking about them while the children played. “Mamma,” said Herbert, “this is young Mr. Pip.” Upon which Mrs. Pocket received me with an appearance of amiable dignity.“Master Alick and Miss Jane,” cried one of the nurses to two of the children, “if you go a bouncing up against them bushes you'll fall over into the river and be drownded, and what'll your pa say then?”At the same time this nurse picked up Mrs. Pocket's handkerchief, and said, “If that don't make six times you've dropped it, Mum!” Upon which Mrs. Pocket laughed and said, “Thank you, Flopson,” and settling herself in one chair only, resumed her book. Her countenance immediately assumed a knitted and intent expression as if she had been reading for a week, but before she could have read half a dozen lines, she fixed her eyes upon me, and said, “I hope your mamma is quite well?” This unexpected inquiry put me into such a difficulty that I began saying in the absurdest way that if there had been any such person I had no doubt she would have been quite well and would have been very much obliged and would have sent her compliments, when the nurse came to my rescue.“Well!” she cried, picking up the pocket handkerchief, “if that don't make seven times! What are you a doing of this afternoon, Mum!” Mrs. Pocket received her property, at first with a look of unutterable surprise as if she had never seen it before, and then with a laugh of recognition, and said, “Thank you, Flopson,” and forgot me, and went on reading.I found, now I had leisure to count them, that there were no fewer than six little Pockets present, in various stages of tumbling up. I had scarcely arrived at the total when a seventh was heard, as in the region of air, wailing dolefully.“If there ain't Baby!” said Flopson, appearing to think it most surprising. “Make haste up, Millers.”Millers, who was the other nurse, retired into the house, and by degrees the child's wailing was hushed and stopped, as if it were a young ventriloquist with something in its mouth. Mrs. Pocket read all the time, and I was curious to know what the book could be.We were waiting, I supposed, for Mr. Pocket to come out to us; at any rate we waited there, and so I had an opportunity of observing the remarkable family phenomenon that whenever any of the children strayed near Mrs. Pocket in their play, they always tripped themselves up and tumbled over her⁠—always very much to her momentary astonishment, and their own more enduring lamentation. I was at a loss to account for this surprising circumstance, and could not help giving my mind to speculations about it, until by and by Millers came down with the baby, which baby was handed to Flopson, which Flopson was handing it to Mrs. Pocket, when she too went fairly head foremost over Mrs. Pocket, baby and all, and was caught by Herbert and myself.“Gracious me, Flopson!” said Mrs. Pocket, looking off her book for a moment, “everybody's tumbling!”“Gracious you, indeed, Mum!” returned Flopson, very red in the face; “what have you got there?”“I got here, Flopson?” asked Mrs. Pocket.“Why, if it ain't your footstool!” cried Flopson. “And if you keep it under your skirts like that, who's to help tumbling? Here! Take the baby, Mum, and give me your book.”Mrs. Pocket acted on the advice, and inexpertly danced the infant a little in her lap, while the other children played about it. This had lasted but a very short time, when Mrs. Pocket issued summary orders that they were all to be taken into the house for a nap. Thus I made the second discovery on that first occasion, that the nurture of the little Pockets consisted of alternately tumbling up and lying down.Under these circumstances, when Flopson and Millers had got the children into the house, like a little flock of sheep, and Mr. Pocket came out of it to make my acquaintance, I was not much surprised to find that Mr. Pocket was a gentleman with a rather perplexed expression of face, and with his very gray hair disordered on his head, as if he didn't quite see his way to putting anything straight. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit greatexpectations.substack.com

"Odette, Omicron, and Geriatric Millennials" BLAST FROM THE PAST (feat. Amiel "Cortz" Cortes) An Excerpt: Season 3, Episode 33, Rated-PG13 "Lay Back" | Music by Brian Withycombe VISAYAS ART FAIR 2021 presented the Visayan arts and culture to the world last November 2021, which housed over 1,000 artworks from 400 artists in over 40 art events; featuring diverse galleries and creatives. ODETTE was a powerful CAT-5 tropical cyclone that hit the Philippines last December 16, 2021. Also known as "Rai," its damages to the Philippines surmounted to a combined total of $1.02bn. One of the highly urbanized cities that got heavily affected and disrupted was Cebu City. And with over 1M residents, electricity and running water were scarce and rationed; also disrupting food, gas, and other supplies distribution until March 2022. The digital working class was also thrown into disarray, whose work heavily depended on connection: electricity and internet; delaying projects to its cancelation while in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic. OMICRON is a COVID-19 variant as a result of mutation that multiplies 70x faster, but is less severe than its previous strains after a 3rd shot of COVID-19 vaccine or booster. YOLANDA was the deadliest Pacific cyclone that hit the Philippines on November 3, 2013. With an est. damage of $2.2bn, its damages to Tacloban, Leyte was the most destructive with effects likened to a tsunami. Also known as "Haiyan," it also affected Cebu and Bohol two weeks after the 7.2. magnitude Bohol earthquake on October 15, 2013. The MALAY ARCHIPELAGO is an island chain between mainland Indochina and Australia that includes the Philippines. The name was a 19th-century Euro concept that also called it "East Indies" and "Spices Archipelago". ABS-CBN is a Philippine commercial broadcast network. And on May 5, 2020, the company was issued a cease-and-desist order by the government after their network's franchise license renewal application was denied. As an effect, this halted their free-to-air (FTA) terrestrial broadcasting services (e.g., newscasting) in the Philippines, which included the remotest places in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. GERIATRIC MILLENNIAL is an oxymoron for a special micro-generation born in the early 1980s that are comfortable with both analog and digital forms of communication. It was first popularized by author and leadership expert Erica Dhawan through her article, "Why the Hybrid Workforce of the Future Depends on the 'Geriatric Millennial'" last April 22, 2021 on the Medium.com platform. According to UrbanDictionary.com, a geriatric millennial is on the cusp/brink (of social extinction), and are the oldest "breed" of millennial "out there," but still acts like a "true millennial". On the TikTok platform, everyone born after 1998 is now considered "old" by Gen Z content creators and influencers. NET WORTH is the value of all assets minus the total of all liabilities. In other words, it is what's owned minus what is owed. A positive net worth also indicates that one's assets outweigh one's liabilities, and generally means one is on the right track to building wealth. DESCRIPTION: Podcast Historias with @alpheccaperpetua • Presented/Hosted by Alphecca Perpetua • Arranged, Mixed, and Mastered by Alphecca Perpetua • Produced by Alphecca Perpetua & Brent Kohnan • Distributed by Studio Historias • about.studiohistorias.com • Cebu, Philippines 6000 • All Rights Reserved © 2022 DISCLAIMER: The assumptions, views, opinions, and insinuations made by the host and guests do not reflect those of the show, the management, and the companies affiliated. A few information in this podcast episode may contain errors or inaccuracies; we do not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the content. If you think you own the rights to any of the material used and wish for the material not be used, please contact Studio Historias via email at askstudiohistorias@gmail.com.

Where to begin the story of the end of humanity? Maybe somewhere in the East Indies, where Captain Van Toch falls in love with a species of three foot tall newts. They're slimy, smart – and starving. Determined to save his newfound children, Van Toch seeks help from an old acquaintance, hoping that a childhood grudge won't spoil his plans. 

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Clem's Memo, published by abstractapplic on April 16, 2022 on LessWrong. Declassified document sourced from Cabinets and The Bomb by Peter Hennessy; reproduced verbatim. TOP SECRET GEN 75/1 28th August, 1945 THE ATOMIC BOMB Memorandum by the Prime Minister A decision on major policy with regard to the atomic bomb is imperative. Until this is taken civil and military departments are unable to plan. It must be recognised that the emergence of this weapon has rendered much of our post-war planning out of date. For instance a redistribution of industry planned on account of the experience of bombing attacks during the war is quite futile in the face of the atomic bomb. Nothing can alter the fact that the geographical situation of Britain offers to a Continental Power such targets as London and the other great cities. Dispersal of munition works and airfields cannot alter the facts of geography. Again it would appear that the provision of bomb proof basements in factories and offices and the retention of A.R.P. and Fire Services is just futile waste. All considerations of strategic bases in the Mediterranean or the East Indies are obsolete. The vulnerability of the heart of the Empire is the one fact that matters. Unless its safety can be secured, it is no use bothering about things on the periphery. It is difficult for people to adjust their minds to an entirely new situation. I noticed at Potsdam that people still talked of the line of the Western Neisse although rivers as strategic frontiers have been obsolete since the advent of Air Power. It is infinitely harder for people to realise that even the modern conception of war to which in my lifetime we have become accustomed is now completely out of date. We recognise or some of us did before this war that bombing could only be answered by counter bombing. We were right. Berlin and Magdeburg were the answer to London and Coventry. Both derive from Guernica. The answer to an atomic bomb on London is an atomic bomb on another great city. Duelling with swords and inefficient pistols was bearable. Duelling had to go with the advent of weapons of precision. What is to be done about the atomic bomb? It has been suggested that by a Geneva Convention all nations might agree to abstain from its use. This method is bound to fail as it has failed in the past. Gas was forbidden but used in the first world war. It was not used in World War 2, but its belligerents were armed with it. We should have used it, if the Germans had landed on our beaches. It was not used, because military opinion considered it less effective than explosives and incendiaries. Further the banning of the atomic bomb would leave us with the other weapons used in the late war which were quite destructive enough. Scientists agree that we cannot stop the march of discovery. We can assume that any attempt to keep this as a secret in the hands of the U.S.A. and U.K. is useless. Scientists in other countries are certain in time to hit upon the secret. The most we may have is a few years start. The question is what use we are to make of that few years start. We might presumably on the strength of our knowledge and of the advanced stage reached in technical development in the U.S.A. seek to set up an Anglo-American Hegemony in the world using our power to enforce a world wide rigid inspection of all laboratories and plants. I do not think this is desirable or practicable. We should not be able to penetrate the curtain that conceals the vast area of Russia. To attempt this would be to invite a world war leading the the destruction of civilization in a dozen years or so. The only course which seems to me to be feasible and to offer a reasonable hope of staving off disaster for the world is joint action taken by the U.S.A., U.K. and Russia based on stark reality. We should...

Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Clem's Memo, published by abstractapplic on April 16, 2022 on LessWrong. Declassified document sourced from Cabinets and The Bomb by Peter Hennessy; reproduced verbatim. TOP SECRET GEN 75/1 28th August, 1945 THE ATOMIC BOMB Memorandum by the Prime Minister A decision on major policy with regard to the atomic bomb is imperative. Until this is taken civil and military departments are unable to plan. It must be recognised that the emergence of this weapon has rendered much of our post-war planning out of date. For instance a redistribution of industry planned on account of the experience of bombing attacks during the war is quite futile in the face of the atomic bomb. Nothing can alter the fact that the geographical situation of Britain offers to a Continental Power such targets as London and the other great cities. Dispersal of munition works and airfields cannot alter the facts of geography. Again it would appear that the provision of bomb proof basements in factories and offices and the retention of A.R.P. and Fire Services is just futile waste. All considerations of strategic bases in the Mediterranean or the East Indies are obsolete. The vulnerability of the heart of the Empire is the one fact that matters. Unless its safety can be secured, it is no use bothering about things on the periphery. It is difficult for people to adjust their minds to an entirely new situation. I noticed at Potsdam that people still talked of the line of the Western Neisse although rivers as strategic frontiers have been obsolete since the advent of Air Power. It is infinitely harder for people to realise that even the modern conception of war to which in my lifetime we have become accustomed is now completely out of date. We recognise or some of us did before this war that bombing could only be answered by counter bombing. We were right. Berlin and Magdeburg were the answer to London and Coventry. Both derive from Guernica. The answer to an atomic bomb on London is an atomic bomb on another great city. Duelling with swords and inefficient pistols was bearable. Duelling had to go with the advent of weapons of precision. What is to be done about the atomic bomb? It has been suggested that by a Geneva Convention all nations might agree to abstain from its use. This method is bound to fail as it has failed in the past. Gas was forbidden but used in the first world war. It was not used in World War 2, but its belligerents were armed with it. We should have used it, if the Germans had landed on our beaches. It was not used, because military opinion considered it less effective than explosives and incendiaries. Further the banning of the atomic bomb would leave us with the other weapons used in the late war which were quite destructive enough. Scientists agree that we cannot stop the march of discovery. We can assume that any attempt to keep this as a secret in the hands of the U.S.A. and U.K. is useless. Scientists in other countries are certain in time to hit upon the secret. The most we may have is a few years start. The question is what use we are to make of that few years start. We might presumably on the strength of our knowledge and of the advanced stage reached in technical development in the U.S.A. seek to set up an Anglo-American Hegemony in the world using our power to enforce a world wide rigid inspection of all laboratories and plants. I do not think this is desirable or practicable. We should not be able to penetrate the curtain that conceals the vast area of Russia. To attempt this would be to invite a world war leading the the destruction of civilization in a dozen years or so. The only course which seems to me to be feasible and to offer a reasonable hope of staving off disaster for the world is joint action taken by the U.S.A., U.K. and Russia based on stark reality. We should...

Now we follow Enoch passed India, passed Sri Lanka-Myanmar, passed the Spice Islands of the East Indies to the specifically the isles of the Philippines in exact directions no one can truly dispute. Yah Bless.For Our Books in eBook (Free) or Print:The Search For King Solomon's Treasure, Ophir Philippines Coffee Table Book, The Book of Jubilees: The Torah Calendar, 2nd Esdras: The Hidden Book of Prophecy, REST: The Case For Sabbath, The First Book of Enoch: The Oldest Book In History:OphirInstitute.com (All Books. Links to Amazon and Shopee PH for your area.)FirstEnoch.org2Esdras.org BookOfJubilees.org RestSabbath.org LeviteBible.orgFacebook:  https://www.facebook.com/The-God-Culture-Original-376627072897316Parler FB Alternative: https://parler.com/user/TheGodCultureWebsite:  thegodculture.comFor the many that are having difficulty with YouTube working properly, here are Series' Playlists: Solomon's Gold Series Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi4PhVocfJEi1oZRRj0AWnzxAnswers In First Enoch Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi709N4aoc74pXnLDLh7eipUAnswers In Jubilees Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi7bU2SrP84nw1EyRAqpQqsPAnswers In 2nd Esdras Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi6ULjeic8lJP63WRyOiW9ypFlood Series Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi7FQ7HiGJcODyJEoBP7-0MdLost Tribes Series Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi7nzrJvNB4pKWG8gFOe9xDAOriginal Canon Series Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi5IdRs0Efb9L0oyVL3E9r1fSabbath Series Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi6Fd6BamniTVm5SsNi2mZPyRESOLVED: Doctrines of Men Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi49L5WkYemQh72yDwV0Ye7YFeasts of YHWH Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi4YXMnaHTYiJw-mDuBqvNtPThe Name of God Series Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi4xaPtUfKykVU0HbOZK-LeJ100 Clues The Philippines Is Ophir:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi5gq1FV4RlgEAKP7WRCLca9Find The Garden of Eden Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi4KPuAcFq4Bx4A2l8dmcfxPRivers from Eden Theory Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi6Xt-ts2C1QVz-ZnAZxicWJRevelation Series Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi6WYQajRSk9iP5tc_Oi5k1jProphetic Warning Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi4jpVYhQ8s5Ad_bZN69nVVhWhen Was Jesus Born Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi6nC0qdzNGBvSt8jK3xmIU5Commandments of the New Testament Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi5jcicc67_G3Tc-C0pN0WJvAll Tagalog Videos Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi7uDwFBB6Qn_DEl4FRu_NwkAll Spanish Narrated Videos Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLru2qbCMGOi5EtdquviZxBfc8R-Chw3ijSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/thegodculture)

Als Alexander Selkirk im Oktober 1711 nach acht Jahren wieder in seine Heimat zurückkehrte, hatte sich seine unglaubliche Geschichte bereits längst wie ein Lauffeuer verbreitet; Vier Jahre und vier Monate hatte der junge Schotte auf einer völlig verlassenen Insel mitten im Pazifik ums Überleben gekämpft. Auch der finanziell angeschlagene Schriftsteller Daniel Defoe bekam Wind davon und veröffentlichte daraufhin 1719 seinen ersten Roman: "Das Leben und die seltsamen Abenteuer des Robinson Crusoe" - ein Klassiker der Weltliteratur war geschaffen. Doch, dass die Geschichte, um die historische Persönlichkeit hinter der Figur "Robinson Crusoe" mindestens ebenso abenteuerlich, spannend und faszinierend ist ist nur Wenigen bekannt… ......... Das Folgenbild zeigt die Titelseite der ersten Biographie über Alexander Selkirk aus dem Jahre 1835. Der Autor ist unbekannt. ......... Literatur: Souhami, Diana: Selkirks Insel. Die wahre Geschichte von Robinson Crusoe, München 2002. Woodes, Rogers: Cruising Voyage round the World: First to the South Seas, thence to the East-Indies, and homewards by the Cape of Good Hope, hrsg. v. Andrew Bell, London 1718. ......... Unsere Quellen findet ihr hier, auf Instagram und auf unserer Website His2Go.de. Ihr könnt uns dabei unterstützen, weiterhin jeden 10., 20. und 30. des Monats eine Folge zu veröffentlichen. Folgt uns bei Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Podimo, Instagram oder Twitter und bewertet uns auf Apple Podcasts, Spotify oder über eure Lieblings-Podcastplattformen. Über einen Spendenlink auf unserer Website könnt ihr uns finanziell unterstützen, damit wir Literatur und neue Technik für den Podcast anschaffen können. Wir freuen uns über euer Feedback, Input und Vorschläge zum Podcast, die ihr uns über das Kontaktformular auf der Website, Instagram und unserer Feedback E-Mail: feedback.his2go@gmail.com zukommen lassen könnt. An dieser Stelle nochmals vielen Dank an jede einzelne Rückmeldung, die uns bisher erreicht hat und uns sehr motiviert. ......... Music from https://filmmusic.io “Sneaky Snitch” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Plain Loafer by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4223-plain-loafer License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The East India Company In this episode, we are answering why the British government was in a position to be sending military force to China in 1839. The short answer: the East India Company and trade with the East vital to British national security. Founding of the East India Company and Monopoly Francis Drake and other English adventurers discovered possibilities when they went out raiding the Spanish and Portuguese. In 1599, Queen Elizabeth ! granted a Royal Charter to the “Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies” for an exclusive monopoly on trade with the East. Over the long decades, the EIC successfully lobbied to keep its monopoly. It was a crucial source of money for the British government, so the EIC was supported. The symbiosis between the EIC and the British government is a prototype of modern government-corporate relations, such as we see today. The Country Trade The "country trade" was any trade past the Cape of Good Hope. The EIC had the monopoly on trade between East and West, but East-East? Fair game. Fired EIC employees and EIC employees working side jobs started this. Later, other companies started up. As the EIC lost its mojo, it lost its monopoly and other companies took over as the guarantors of British trade around the world. Book recommendation: The Honourable Company by John Keay. (Fantastic author about India in general!) If You'd Like to Support the Podcast Subscribe, share, leave a rating. THIS IS FREE! Give once, give monthly at www.buymeacoffee.com/crpodcast Subscribe to the substack newsletter at https://chineserevolutions.substack.com/ Also... Please reach out at chineserevolutions@gmail.com and let me know what you think!

The naval battle of Guadalcanal was one of the most intense and dramatic naval battles of the war, and with with far-reaching strategic consequences. It is the winter of 1942, a year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour which brought America into the war. Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons Islands, found to the north west of Australia. In the months after the attack on Pearl Harbour the Japanese had been immensely successful; they had driven the Americans out of the Philippines, the British out of Malaya, the Dutch out of the East Indies. The Japanese had then began to expand westwards in an attempt to build a defensive ring around their conquests and threaten the lines of communication from the United States to Australia and new Zealand. They reached Guadalcanal in May 1942 and invaded.Three months later, the Americans responded with an invasion fo their own, their first amphibious landing of the war and, crucially, captured the airfield newly constructed by the Japanese. The following six months was spent in a desperate battle trying to hold it against relentless waves of Japanese attacks. The battle reached a crisis point in November with a concerted effort from the Japanese to bombard the airfield from the sea and a corresponding American naval effort to drive the Japanese ships away. They were successful and by February of 1943 the Japanese had evacuated the island, an immensely challenging operation, brilliantly executed.To find out more Dr Sam Willis speaks with the historian Jeffrey Cox. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Imperialism is a policy or ideology of extending rule over peoples and other countries,[2] for extending political and economic access, power and control, often through employing hard power, especially military force, but also soft power. While related to the concepts of colonialism and empire, imperialism is a distinct concept that can apply to other forms of expansion and many forms of government. Looking at the empires, profitability was mixed. At first, planners expected that colonies would provide an excellent captive market for manufactured items. Apart from the Indian subcontinent, this was seldom true. By the 1890s, imperialists saw the economic benefit primarily in the production of inexpensive raw materials to feed the domestic manufacturing sector. Overall, Great Britain did very well in terms of profits from India, especially Mughal Bengal, but not from most of the rest of its empire. To understand the scale of the wealth transfer from India from 1765 to 1938 an estimated $45 Trillion was taken. [17] This is 15-times the $3 Trillion (2019) annual GNI of the UK. The Netherlands did very well in the East Indies. Germany and Italy got very little trade or raw materials from their empires. France did slightly better. The Belgian Congo was notoriously profitable when it was a capitalistic rubber plantation owned and operated by King Leopold II as a private enterprise. However, scandal after scandal regarding very badly mistreated labour led the international community to force the government of Belgium to take it over in 1908, and it became much less profitable. Imperialism was a policy that changed the very nature of relations and politics between the different regions of the Earth. It interconnected many economies with each other, but it also resulted in the occupation and suppression of other nations, exploitation of labor and resources, and deadly mistakes. However, especially the British, spent a lot of money propping up the economies of her colonies and making sure that their was good infrastructure to move around the materials. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want to discuss this further, or just want to contact us? Reach us on our socials, or join the community on Kloka! Twitter: @BackToThePastP1 https://bit.ly/39ts3CG Instagram: @backtothepastp1 https://bit.ly/34lcwBD Rate this podcast! https://ratethispodcast.com/althistory Check out our website! https://kloka.org/backtothepast Email us if you have any questions or comments! back2thepastpodcast@gmail.com Or if you have any ideas for Kloka, including potential future podcasts, coverage, or even a book review, email contact@kloka.org Podcast Transcripts: https://kloka.org/go/althistranscripts --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rohan-parikh7/message

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest Lectionary: 179All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is Saint Francis XavierJesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him. Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534, joined his little community, the infant Society of Jesus. Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity, obedience, and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope. From Venice, where he was ordained a priest in 1537, Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans, and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India. Wherever he went, Xavier lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy. Xavier went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct, and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland, he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa. He and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux were declared co-patrons of the missions in 1925. Reflection All of us are called to “go and preach to all nations—see Matthew 28:19. Our preaching is not necessarily on distant shores but to our families, our children, our husband or wife, our coworkers. And we are called to preach not with words, but by our everyday lives. Only by sacrifice, the giving up of all selfish gain, could Francis Xavier be free to bear the Good News to the world. Sacrifice is leaving yourself behind at times for a greater good, the good of prayer, the good of helping someone in need, the good of just listening to another. The greatest gift we have is our time. Francis Xavier gave his to others. Saint Francis Xavier is a Patron Saint of: Japan Jewelers Missions Sailors Saint of the DayCopyright Franciscan Media

Friday of the First Week of Advent Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552; Ignatius of Loyola brought him to Christ, and Francis joined the Jesuits; Francis went to Lisbon, and on to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India, where he stayed for ten years; he lived with the poorest […]

Friday of the First Week of Advent Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552; Ignatius of Loyola brought him to Christ, and Francis joined the Jesuits; Francis went to Lisbon, and on to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India, where he stayed for ten years; he lived with the poorest […]

Saint Francis Xavier is known as the Apostle to the Indies. He was a 16th century Basque nobleman, one of the founding members of the Jesuit order, and famed as a missionary to Asia. He was active in the Portuguese-controlled port of Goa in India, in the East Indies, and in Japan and China. The number of baptisms attributed to his work number in at least the tens of thousands.  

The Swiss Family Robinson is a novel by Johann David Wyss, first published in 1812, about a Swiss family of immigrants whose ship en route to Port Jackson, Australia, goes off course and is shipwrecked in the East Indies.

In 1616, British officer Nathaniel Courthope was sent to a tiny island in the East Indies to contest a Dutch monopoly on nutmeg. He and his men would spend four years battling sickness, starvation, and enemy attacks to defend the island's bounty. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Courthope's stand and its surprising impact in world history. We'll also meet a Serbian hermit and puzzle over an unusual business strategy. Intro: Should orangutans be regarded as human? How fast does time fly? Sources for our feature on Nathaniel Courthope: Giles Milton, Nathaniel's Nutmeg: or, The True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History, 2015. John Keay, The Honourable Company, 2010. Martine van Ittersum, The Dutch and English East India Companies, 2018. Sanjeev Sanyal, The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History, 2016. Paul Schellinger and Robert M. Salkin, eds., International Dictionary of Historic Places, 2012. Daniel George Edward Hall, History of South East Asia, 1981. H.C. Foxcroft, Some Unpublished Letters of Gilbert Burnet, the Historian, in The Camden Miscellany, Volume XI, 1907. William Foster, ed., Letters Received by the East India Company From Its Servants in the East, Volume 4, 1900. Samuel Rawson Gardiner, History of England From the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War, 1895. W. Noel Sainsbury, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, East Indies, China and Japan, 1617-1621, 1870. Martine Julia van Ittersum, "Debating Natural Law in the Banda Islands: A Case Study in Anglo–Dutch Imperial Competition in the East Indies, 1609–1621," History of European Ideas 42:4 (2016), 459-501. Geraldine Barnes, "Curiosity, Wonder, and William Dampier's Painted Prince," Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies 6:1 (Spring-Summer 2006), 31-50. Barbara D. Krasner, "Nutmeg Takes Manhattan," Calliope 16:6 (February 2006), 28-31. Vincent C. Loth, "Armed Incidents and Unpaid Bills: Anglo-Dutch Rivalry in the Banda Islands in the Seventeenth Century," Modern Asian Studies 29:4 (October 1995), 705-740. Boies Penrose, "Some Jacobean Links Between America and the Orient (Concluded)," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 49:1 (January 1941), 51-61. Jennifer Hunter, "Better Than the David Price Deal? Trading Nutmeg for Manhattan," Toronto Star, Aug. 8, 2015. Janet Malehorn Spencer, "Island Was Bargain for Britain," [Mattoon, Ill.] Journal Gazette, Feb. 22, 2013. Kate Humble, "The Old Spice Route to the Ends of the Earth," Independent, Feb. 12, 2011. Sebastien Berger, "The Nutmeg Islanders Are Aiming to Spice Up Their Lives," Daily Telegraph, Oct. 9, 2004. Clellie Lynch, "Blood and Spice," [Pittsfield, Mass.] Berkshire Eagle, Nov. 11, 1999. Kevin Baker, "Spice Guys," New York Times, July 11, 1999. Robert Taylor, "How the Nutmeg Mania Helped Make History," Boston Globe, May 18, 1999. Giles Milton, "Manhattan Transfer," Sydney Morning Herald, April 10, 1999. Martin Booth, "All for the Sake of a Little Nutmeg Tree," Sunday Times, Feb. 28, 1999. Charles Nicholl, "Books: Scary Tales of an Old Spice World," Independent, Feb. 20, 1999. "Mr Sainsbury's East Indian Calendar," Examiner, March 18, 1871. "Courthopp, Nathaniel," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 1885. Listener mail: "Past Divisional Champs – Little League Baseball," Little League (accessed Oct. 6, 2021). "Serbian Cave Hermit Gets Covid-19 Vaccine, Urges Others to Follow," Straits Times, Aug. 13, 2021. Matthew Taylor, "The Real Story of Body 115," Guardian, Jan. 21, 2004. Godfrey Holmes, "Kings Cross Fire Anniversary: It's Been 30 Years Since the Deadly Fireball Engulfed the Tube Station," Independent, Nov. 18, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Tom Salinsky. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Building off of the general overview in episode #2 for how and why places are named/renamed in Altera, we set off to systematically explore the etymologies behind geographic name in Altera, starting top-level first with landmasses and continents. Other topics covered: the difference between a continent and a landmass, Amerigo Vespucci, the etymology of Alaska, the geographic concepts of Ecumene and Nusantara, the -stan suffix, power relations and exonyms, connecting the East Indies with the Spice Islands or Moluccas, septentrion as north and the historic French system of orientation, the Southern Cross and its tie to iconography in the Southern Hemisphere, and Southern Ocean geographic exceptionalism. Tired of learning geography and history in an uninspired world? Atlas Altera is a creative exercise that repaints the world while going hardcore on real geography, anthropology, linguistics, and history. For more content, visit www.atlasaltera.com or watch the video on YouTube.

In 1628, the Batavia, a flagship Dutch Indiaman left the port of Texel in the Netherlands bound for the Dutch capital in the East Indies filled to the upper decks with gold, silver, gems and jewellery, along with a crew made up of a host of down and out soldiers, sailors and officers. Life in the Dutch East India Company was notoriously hard, but the crew aboard the Batavia were in for a special kind of torture, when the ship was wrecked off the Western Coast of Australia, leading to several months of indescribable bloodshed and violence at the hands of an especially twisted Commander.   SOURCES   van Duivenvoorde, Wendy (2015) Dutch East India Company Shipbuilding: The Archaeological Study of Batavia and Other Seventeenth-Century VOC Ships. Texas A&M University Press, USA.   Dash, Mike (2003) Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny. Crown Publishing Group, NY, USA.   Fitzsimmons, Peter (2011) Batavia. William Heinemann Publishing, Australia ---------- For extended show notes, including maps, links and scripts, head over to darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or via voicemail on: (415) 286-5072 or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.       

After a massive discovery of oil in East Texas in 1930, while the US is looking to expand in the Middle East, Oil ends up being recognized as a National Resource. Japan and Germany start aggressively pursuing self-sufficiency in Oil. Japan eyes the East Indies and Germany eyes the oil fields of Russia to gain access to the strategic economic asset.

Listen in to the life and ministry of Robert Jaffray and hear how his zeal for the gospel advanced the name of Christ in China and throughout much of Southeast Asia and the East Indies.

Show NotesIn this bonus episode of Granite State Gardening,  New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station researcher Becky Sideman, Emma Erler and Nate Bernitz continue their conversation from the last episode, getting into working with seed catalogs to understand the information and how it's organized as well as how to make selections that will thrive in your garden. We get into the weeds of concepts including organic, seed treatments, GMOs, and disease resistance, as well as segments on selecting varieties for container gardening, staking tomatoes, and growing Malabar spinach (Basella alba). Part 1 of this conversation, titled Planning Spring Vegetable Gardens, Soil Temperature, Nasturtiums & Fencing, was packed with experience and insights for garden planning, and we recommend listening to it before jumping into this episode. Featured question: What are the best varieties for growing veggies in containers? Featured plant segment: Malabar spinach (Basella alba) Closing gardening tip: tomato staking Connect with us at @askunhextension on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to the monthly Granite State Gardening newsletter. Email us questions, suggestions and feedback at gsg.pod@unh.edu Background reading: Growing Vegetables in Containers: https://extension.unh.edu/resource/growing-vegetables-containers-fact-sheet Applied UNH Extension Research: https://extension.unh.edu/tags/applied-vegetable-fruit-research-new-hampshire Pruning Tomato Plants: https://extension.unh.edu/resource/pruning-tomato-plants-fact-sheetPreventing Garden Diseases: https://extension.unh.edu/resource/10-easy-steps-prevent-common-garden-diseases-fact-sheet  Managing Garden Pests with IPM: https://extension.unh.edu/blog/garden-IPM  Exciting Veggie Varieties Q&A: https://extension.unh.edu/blog/exciting-veggie-varieties-qa  UNH Sideman Lab on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unh_sidemanlab/ Transcription by Otter.aiNate Bernitz  00:01Welcome to the Granite State Gardening podcast from UNH Cooperative Extension. On today's show, we continue our conversation with Becky Seidman: UNH Extension specialist, professor of sustainable agriculture and food systems, and researcher at the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. If you haven't listened to Part one yet, which was called "planting spring vegetable garden soil temperature nasturtiums and fencing", you'll want to check that out before listening to this episode. We'll talk about using the wealth of information provided on seed packets and in seed catalogs, not only to understand it, but how to use it to choose the right varieties and succeed with the varieties you choose. Greetings Granite State gardeners, I'm Nate Bernitz, joined as always by horticulturist and UNH extension field specialist, Emma Erler. And again by Becky Seidman. We pick up our conversation after talking about garden planning systems and strategies. Now, we'll get into talking about tips and solutions for working with seed catalogs, understanding the information provided for us and how it's organized. So rather than get overwhelmed, we can get informed and find varieties that help us bring our garden plans to life. Emma, let's jump back in with what you view as some of the most important sections to focus on when you're looking at a variety of listing and a seed catalog. Emma E  01:35I'd say one thing I'm looking at, which is always going to be on there is the days to maturity. So if this if I'm ordering from companies that are out of the Northeast, you should I can probably assume that what I'm going to grow as long as I am planting on time, I'm going to be able to get a harvest. But you know, depending on when you're going to be able to get things in the ground, let's say it might be important to know whether something whether it's going to develop really quickly or not, or whether it's early fruiting or not. So I don't I'm thinking, let's say maybe tomatoes, you know that you're gonna be gone by, let's say August 1. And so you want to make sure that you you've chosen a variety that fruits really early, I say you've started them indoors, get them outside in the garden, and hopefully you're getting a nice crop within, you know, let's say two months at the at the most. So that's important. And then another thing that I guess we've kind of touched on already is is whether there's any sort of pest resistance in a variety. So if I know let's say that I have been having issues with early blight on my tomatoes year after year, then I might be looking for a variety that is early blight resistant, etc. I guess the same could go for squashes or cucumbers with say powdery mildew. So if you've at least accurately identified what that problem is, you might be able to skirt it somewhat with rotation and choosing a variety that has resistance. Nate Bernitz  03:09There's a lot more information about disease resistance in the catalog than on a seed packet. The seed packet might say that it has disease resistance, but in the catalog, it might say what it's resistant to and its level of resistance, whether it's resistant, whether it's tolerant, how resistant is it, there's a lot of really nuanced information that you might be able to get from the catalog. Becky Sideman  03:34Definitely. And I would add to that that not related to diseases but relating to whether a crop does well. One of the things that you will often find in a catalog is descriptions about the seasons that crops do well in, I'm thinking about broccoli, for example, broccoli varieties vary enormously in their tolerance to the kind of mid summer heat that we experience. And so if you are a real broccoli afficionado and want to grow broccoli so that you can harvest it throughout your whole growing season, you would probably want to actually grow an early season broccoli that will do well in the spring before the summer heat, and maybe a main season broccoli that can have some heat tolerance, and then maybe even a third that goes really well into fall production. That might not make sense if you just care if you have a little bit of broccoli here and there. But if you're really focusing on any given crop, you'll realize that there's a lot of variability that you can choose from. Nate Bernitz  04:43And I guess that might be taking us back to where we started this conversation which is hybrids, because plant breeders are breeding crops for specific characteristics. So if you're that broccoli afficionado you're looking for broccolis for different Seasons that might be where you're really benefiting from some of these newer varieties, Becky Sideman  05:05that's for sure. And they, they may be newer varieties that are hybrids, but they may also be new, open pollinated varieties, the two are not necessarily at odds with each other. Emma E  05:17Yeah, it's a really where that comes in, I guess open pollinated or hybrid is whether you're intending to save seeds yourself or not. So if you're really hoping to just have this, this garden where you're saving seeds every year, which I think is really hard on the scale of a home grower, if you just have a few plants here and there. But it really doesn't matter if you're going to be starting things from from seed each year, and not trying to save the seeds, whether it's open pollinated, or hybrid. Becky Sideman  05:46No. And in fact, some people prefer open pollinated seeds for kind of exactly kind of the reason that you might also the opposite reason, but the exact same justification is why you might prefer prefer hybrids. So hybrids are super, super, super uniform and consistent, they are going to be the same as each other. And that's great if you want something that's really uniform, but open pollinated varieties tend to have more variability in them. And that can be nice if you actually enjoy that variability, or you want to see that, you know, a little more adaptation to a particular environment. So there the I think there's clearly room for both. Nate Bernitz  06:32That's a great point. And so one example of something that you might be looking at in the description of a particular variety is, like you said, whether it's early or late or something like that, what what else might you be looking at when you're looking at one of these really robust descriptions of a variety and a catalog? What are some of the traits that might be highlighted? Becky Sideman  06:55Well, I'm thinking about, it's really so crop specific, actually. And it's hard to get, I mean, it's easy to to dig into if you start talking about a given crop. But for example, we mentioned onions earlier. And a lot of catalogs, those will be sorted into short day, intermediate day and long day onions, which has to do with usually there'll be a helpful little chart to help you decide which one you want. But that has to do with what parts of the country they're going to do well in. And so you know, it makes sense to really read those descriptions and understand what, what they they mean. I think about the sweet corn section and the sweet corn varieties differ enormously, not only in like the color of the kernels and the timing of maturity of them, but also in the genetics behind their sweetness and whether they have to be isolated, or they can grow next to each other, and they have huge flavor differences. So there's just all these characteristics that when you start digging into any given crop, you'll realize that there's a ton of variability for most crops, actually, Nate Bernitz  08:14yeah, when I just open up a catalog, which I'm doing right now and I'm looking at the eggplant section, and I'm just perusing some of these different descriptions, and it's really bringing me back again to our garden planning discussion. One of the really big differences is from a sort of culinary and preservation perspective. What are you actually planning on doing what this vegetable once you harvested it for this eggplant? Are you planning on grilling it? Or are you planning on freezing it for later use it so that those actual desirable culinary characteristics are really relevant as well as you know if you're this is maybe a fruit but just what immediately comes to mind if you're growing apples? Are you planning on growing them to eat fresh? Are you planning on making cider or sauce and you're gonna just see that different varieties are best tailored to specific and uses flavor texture, it gets really specific and that's really one of the benefits of gardening is that you do get to grow exactly what you want you get so much selection whereas when you go to the grocery store, you might be buying a crop that is at the store because it has a really good shelf life and handles being shipped really well.  Emma Erler  09:31Yeah, that's that's definitely something that I really appreciate. Just the the diversity of flavors of textures of colors that you can get when you're growing things yourself. I know particularly I think of zucchini, how in my mind just vanilla and rather boring the supermarket zucchini is but when you grow it yourself, there's actually you know, some real, some real different flavors things sometimes they can be kind of nutty. Maybe a little bit sweeter, all sorts of different colors, shapes, sizes. So you know, just a lot to play around with. But your point is well taken Nate that trying to grow things based on use is definitely going to be important. Nate Bernitz  10:17I think you're also going to see, you know, if you're talking about these cucurbits, like cucumbers, for example, that's what I'm looking at. Now, in this catalog I have open, and some of them their description, say that they actually are better for small spaces growing in containers growing vertically, right, so you're looking in that description. And going back to your garden planning, where as you were looking at the different crops you are wanting to grow and the space requirements, you have these characteristics that you're actually looking for. And I think that's going to make it less overwhelming when you actually open the catalog and see so many choices, and just aren't really sure how to choose. You go back to your plan and go back to your needs.  Emma E  11:00Totally. Yeah, I think that's a good way of looking at it to break it down. I think too, if you're feeling overwhelmed, starting smaller is never a bad idea. So it's it's really easy, I think, to get carried away when you're looking at that catalog and trying to pick out what you want to grow. Because there's typically just so many things that look cool. And if you haven't tried out a bunch of them before, you might be thinking that it would be neat to order a whole bunch and try all these different things. But in order to keep yourself from potentially getting completely overwhelmed, it might be easier to say you're just going to grow these five or six crops, and you're just going to pick out one or two varieties of each. And once you've totally figured out how to grow those, you've had some success, then you can start maybe expanding that garden trying different things. But yeah, just trying trying to keep a lid on early efforts i think is important. This episode's featured question is which vegetable varieties are best for containers? This is actually a question we get fairly often, as many people are interested in growing their own fresh food and limited space. growing vegetables and containers can be quite easy and rewarding as long as you have a sunny spot outdoors where plants will receive at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight a day. Outside of choosing the right varieties. In order to be successful, you need to choose containers that will hold enough soil for the crop you want to grow and have good drainage at the bottom. pots need to have at least one large hole at the bottom to allow excess water to escape. If necessary, you may be able to drill holes along the sides and bottoms of containers. five gallon five gallon plastic buckets are a really popular choice for this. It's also crucial to choose a quality potting mix. garden soil is too heavy for containers. So instead you should be looking for a quality soilless mix that contains peat moss, coir, perlite, vermiculite, etc. Quality mixes will become composed primarily of peat and coir. Cheap mixes will be filled with bark and won't hold soil moisture as well. As for varieties, you can grow just about any vegetable in a container. Although that being said, if you are growing what tend to be very large plants like cucumbers, summer squash or tomatoes, you'll want to look for varieties that are listed for use in containers that are described as miniature or bush type. Your favorite seed catalog is sure to have at least a few choices of bush tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and eggplants. I found that any type of pepper, green or root vegetable can be grown in containers and you don't need to get a special container variety. Personally, peppers are one of my favorites. They fit into containers nicely. And they're really beautiful to like any other aspect of gardening, you'll need to experiment with growing and containers to see what works best for you. Good luck. Nate Bernitz  14:26There's a minimum number of seeds you can buy, right, so maybe you're buying a seed packet with 50 seeds in it or more than that might be the smallest possible quantity you can get. And it has a germination rate of you know x percentage in those ideal conditions, which are might actually be getting in the packet right as opposed you might not be able to see the precise germination rate in the catalog. But in any case, at some point you know if you only have room to plant five seeds you know how many days different varieties are you going to buy your you can only do so much. And the seeds don't last forever, my understanding is some different vegetables, you know, maybe some my last one or two years, maybe some other vegetables, the seeds might last a little bit longer if if stored well, but they all have a pretty short shelf life. Emma E  15:21Yeah, that germination rate or percentage will definitely go down over time. I know for my own garden, I'll often use the same piece for a couple years just because I really only have room for a couple dozen plants and there's 100 seeds or so in that packet. But after after two years or so the germination rate goes way down, and I just don't find it worth my time anymore to be planting a whole bunch of seeds that are no longer coming up and I'm wasting time in my garden. So starting over again, is is important and for, there are lots of charts out there that show how long some seeds are, can be expected to last, you know, whether it's a year, three years under ideal storage conditions. So you can get an idea there, I mean, there's a chance you might be able to use the same seeds, multiple years in a row. Becky Sideman  16:13I always like to do a little germination test to confirm, especially for crops I really care about to make positive sure that the seeds still are viable. And because if I'm placing my orders now, for my seeds, I do not want to find come may 15, that something I was counting on didn't germinate. And then what am I gonna do? So, so there's kind of an element of managing risk there as well. Sometimes it's worth getting fresh. And not risking for too many years. Nate Bernitz  16:55I actually want to come back to something you said in the very beginning, the first thing you said about looking at a catalog is you're gonna see days to maturity. And I know you said it's important, but I was wondering, Becky, could you talk a little bit about how you actually interpret that days to maturity number. So if you're a grower in whatever town and whatever growing zone, why is the days to maturity particularly relevant? Becky Sideman  17:25Well, I would say that it is important, but I would also say to take it with a big grain of salt. Because sometimes it's actually you can play a little game, if you have lots of seed catalogs with the same variety and listed in them and compare days to maturity. And you'll find sometimes they are wildly different. And part of this is because sometimes they measure that from days to seeding from seeding to maturity, or from transplant to maturity, you really have to read and know what what you're talking about there. I use that information in two primary ways. One is within a given seed catalog, within a given crop, they will have a range of maturities. And you can be pretty sure that a 63 day corn is going to be considerably earlier than 89 day corn from the same catalog. So that's helpful information to know. The other big way I use this is for, cuz I'm always trying to go really weird stuff that should not grow here. Because that's what I like to do. And so I want to grow things that take a much longer growing season than we have. And I sort of figure Okay, I am pretty sure we're going to have 100 frost free days. It's possible I wouldn't, but I'm pretty sure we will, most years. And so if the days to maturity, in some listed in a catalog is up around 150 to 120 days, I start thinking I'm gonna have to start that really early, I'm gonna have to really, I'm not saying I won't grow it, mind you, I'm just thinking I'm gonna have to protect this and really get it going and like that it's going to be dicey, whether I make it or not. And so those are the two ways that I really use the days to maturity, I take it with a grain of salt. I use it as a rough guideline for what's earlier versus what's later. And I tried to use it to figure out whether I can possibly grow these things that aren't really well adapted here. Nate Bernitz  19:42So you're kind of saying that it's helping you determine your planting date because you're taking that days to maturity and sort of counting back the number of days from the frost date. And sort of seeing if those numbers all work or if that's just Too many days between what you would expect to be the last frost and expect to be the first frost, is that right? Becky Sideman  20:07Yeah, that is correct. But again, that's making it sound a little more scientific than how I actually do it, I really do use this one ballpark number, which is roughly 100 days, you know, days of frost free, I know that we most often have more than that. But I feel like when we start having a crop that's over 100 days to maturity, I have to really start thinking about ways I'm going to creatively lengthen the season for that crop. And that's it. I don't try to because I think that, like, if, you know, something says that it's, you know, 35 days to maturity, I you can't use those numbers religiously to say, Okay, well, I can if it's 35 days to maturity, if I start one on May 1, and then I start one on June 15. And then I started again on, like, it just doesn't work out like that, because in reality, we're assigning a number, but it's not a real number, because it's maybe 35 days on average. But like, early in the season, it takes longer than that, because it's cold in the middle of the season. It goes faster than that, because it's really hot. And so it's just like a ballpark number. I don't know if that's discouraging or not, but it's how I use these things.  Emma E  21:33No, I think that's helpful. I guess my philosophy often is I because I do tend to be more of an ornamental or flower grower than vegetable growers. So when I have my vegetable garden, I just want to ensure that I am going to be getting some good produce, so that I can be screwing around with some of the other things that I like in the ornamental beds. So in that case, I'm often looking for some of those earlier maturing varieties that I'm like I should that definitely have plenty of time for this to fruit or fully mature and I will absolutely be getting whatever it is that I want I will be getting, let's say this, this squash, this winter squash should definitely produce something for me with the amount of time I can expect to have in the growing season. But I think you know, depending on on what your your your hobby is, what your interest is, like, Becky playing around with all that that stuff. That's, that's really cool.  Nate Bernitz  22:33And you're really talking about these crops that you plant in the spring and harvest in the fall. Right that where you're pushing the envelope, I guess the other thing you could look at are cool season crops that maybe you're planting early in the spring. And you need to make sure that you can harvest them before the summer heat hits. Or maybe that you're planting in the late summer, early fall and need to make sure they're going to be harvestable. Before we get our first frost. Becky Sideman  23:01Yeah, that's right. And I think that that's when you really have to take those days to maturity with a grain of salt because they get again, they're measured in a certain condition. And if you're doing something, let's say a little different, like growing spinach in a high tunnel over the winter, or planting something really, really early under low tunnels outside or something like that, those numbers are going to not apply directly. Because it's going to be cooler, slower growing conditions. But yeah, yeah. Nate Bernitz  23:50I've seen this in catalogs and packets, I've seen some things labeled as treated seeds. I've also seen pelletized seeds, what are these terms actually mean? And then do I want something that's treated? Do I want something that's pelletized? Emma E  24:06I think sometimes with the the pelletized seeds, we're talking about seeds of plants that are very small and might be kind of difficult to plant because you can't actually pick them up with your fingers. So let's say beets. Now I know beets have a pretty good sized seed. Maybe something more like a carrot or maybe lettuces might might be actually rolled in some sort of some sort of aggregate that's making them a little bit bigger and easier to handle. I guess the challenge though, is that you still typically have to thin because a lot of times there's still more than one seed rolled up in that pellet. If there if there isn't, you know, it might be a bit easier to handle. So say you're gardening with kids, it might be a little bit easier for them to handle the pelletized seed than trying to gently sprinkle let's see lettuce seed or carrot seed that's very, very fine. So kind of preference are usually you pay extra for it. So it's not something I typically opt for, but definitely an option. Becky Sideman  25:16I'll jump in with that. The other thing with pelletized seed is that often that process of palletizing also involves priming the seeds so that it's ready or to germinate sort of it's kind of like getting it partially germinated, and then drying it down in the piloting process, so that they germinate quickly and uniformly etc. Unfortunately, the downside of that is that they don't, they've come partially out of dormancy, and so they don't store as well. So a palletized seed is easier to handle, like Emma said, and for that reason, in certain circumstances makes a lot of sense. But it's not going to last and the ideal storage conditions are not going to be, it's not going to last as well, even if you have those excellent storage conditions. So you'd want to use those seeds up.  Emma E  26:09you definitely can find treated seeds as well that I believe are treated with fungicides, typically/ Becky Sideman  26:15and in some cases, insecticides, depending depending on the situation. Nate Bernitz  26:22So you're not going to find something that's organic and treated at the same time? Becky Sideman  26:27there are organically compliant seed treatments as well, you'd want to unnecessary, you'd want to read the details of those seed treatments. And if you particularly if you are interested in organic gardening, you'd want to make sure it was an organic seed treatment, which many of them are not. Oftentimes, with a treated seed, either with insecticides or fungicides, it's going to germinate better in cold soils with pests, and if it's treated with insecticide, it won't get attacked by a seed, corn maggot or a root maggot perhaps when it's young, so you can get increased vigor from those. But the downside is they are pesticide treated seeds, and you need to handle them accordingly. Emma Erler  27:18I'm kind of curious, Becky, you know, back to the organic seed thing. If you are, you know, a home gardener is planning to grow your garden organically. Is it important to be getting organic seeds? Or can you just order the regular seeds? And, you know, be very careful with your practices so that your garden is indeed organic? Becky Sideman  27:43Well, it comes down to sort of there's two parts to that my answer? And one is there's a there is a philosophy, that there's a philosophical approach to that, which is that if you are truly organically inclined, you would want to be theoretically, supporting organic agriculture at all levels. And that includes when you purchase organic seeds, you're you're supporting that those plants that were raised to produce those seeds were raised organically. And so from that perspective, many organic producers do in fact, want organic seeds, and they want to sort of encourage that organic production at all at all steps of their of the food system. But on the other hand, there's the other part of that question. The other part of my answer has to do with like, are you actually following the rules, and the the organic regulation state that if something's available organically, you must purchase and use it organically. If it's not like if you want to grow a variety that you can't find organically, as an organic grower, you could use it. So I recognize that most home gardeners are not actually certified organic and paying attention to those rules. But it's sort of important to know like if it's out there as a possibility an organic grower would have to purchase and utilize that organic seed. Nate Bernitz  29:26That's really interesting. And I think the flip side of that coin, so there's our organic gardeners, but people are also concerned about GMOs, do you like can you even buy GMO seeds as a gardener? Is that something that would be labeled? What do you need to know about that when you're perusing your seed catalogs? Becky Sideman  29:50The last time I researched this from a home gardener perspective? Yes, you could, in theory gry genetically modified seeds, but it would be difficult to do so without knowing it. And because most companies would have disclaimers really clearly on them, and also, because they're not targeted for home gardeners, you would typically have to be buying them in lots of maybe 10,000 seeds or more, which most home gardeners are not going to do. So I would say probably a practical standpoint, it's very unlikely that you would, if you did, we're not looking for genetically modified seeds. If you're trying to not have them, it's very unlikely you would accidentally purchase them, probably practically impossible. That said, there's a bunch of seed companies that have GMO free pledges. And so they clearly state that in their catalogs, they don't sell genetically modified seeds, and they even test for the presence of trans genes. So if you if that's something you are looking to avoid, it should be pretty straightforward to do So. Nate Bernitz  31:10that might be a fun topic For a future episode, we'll see. I actually wanted to go back to disease resistance for a few more minutes. We mentioned that yes, in the catalog, you are seeing what something is resistant to through a, you know, some sort of key or legend. If you're someone that has dealt with a particular disease in the past, and you find a seed in this year's catalog that says that it's resistant to that disease, does that take the place of other management practices? Do you still have to rotate? Do you still need to potentially use some sort of product? Do you need to practice other cultural growing practices? What's your take on how significant disease resistance actually is? Becky Sideman  31:57My take is that it It varies with the disease and the crop. There are disease resistances that are pretty much absolute immunity conferring disease, resistances, that would pretty much entirely control the disease, an example would be leaf mold, and tomato, for example, which is very uncommon in outdoor gardening settings, but it's pretty common in in greenhouses. Another example would be bacterial leaf spot and pepper, which is a pretty devastating disease if you have it. And if you have resistance, it is just a non issue. But those are the rare exception. And most disease resistances are partial. And they should be what pathologists call protected by using all the other cultural practices in your arsenal as well. So rotate and do everything else you can to try to minimize that. Because if it's a partial resistance, you just aren't going to get complete control no matter what. And I would say it's probably safest to assume that resistances are going to be partial. And it never hurts to go ahead and rotate. Because even if it isn't necessary for that disease, it's probably necessary for something else Nate Bernitz  33:29that's really interesting. isn't actually going to say in the catalog one way or the other. Like if it's kind of a complete and total resistance or not, or are you just saying in general unless you specifically know that there's a resistance that's going to completely cover it, you should assume that it should just be part of your overall disease management approach? Becky Sideman  33:53Yeah, I think that most catalogs are not going to be very clearly overly promising immunity. They because well, who knows what happened? That seems dangerous to over promise, right? So I would say most are not going to tell you it's going to be complete immunity. So you might know it. But if you don't know what they're not going to tell you. They might tell you it's partial resistance or intermediate resistance, which is a great sign that it's not complete. And for that reason, I guess that's why I would even if they say resistant, I would interpret that as maybe not complete and you should protect it. So even if it is very high level of resistance. You know, pathogens evolve. And they evolve slowly over time by people putting them out, putting resistances out and challenges them. And so everything you can do to try to minimize that, and minimize the pathogens, chances of evolving resistance is good. So that's why I would err on the side of assuming it won't be complete. Nate Bernitz  35:16And, Becky, you really have some insider information on this whole disease resistance process, because as a researcher, you're actually evaluating disease resistance. Right? Can you share just a little bit about what actually goes into being able to say that variety x is resistant to disease y? Becky Sideman  35:41Yeah, well, there's different ways that that's done. But basically the way you in order to say that someone has done replicated experiments, when exposing those plants, to the pathogen, that may be that they may mean they've grown them in fields that are known to have that disease or an environment that have known had the disease, or maybe they've grown them in a setting and actually inoculated them with that pathogen. It can be a little tricky to get an accurate, it's it can be tricky to make proclamations that are broadly applicable. Like, even if we do a really great disease, inoculation and screen and identify resistant things. The reality of life is that there's variability and pathogens that are out there. And so it might be that there's different strains in other parts of the country, or even in different parts of the state, for example. And so that's part of the reason that you have to sort of view it with a little bit of like, healthy skepticism, I guess, because you often don't know, like, we might just have a new strain could show up of a particular pathogen. And so even though folks have done their best to to evaluate them, it is all like actual looking to see what their response is in some kind of setting. Nate Bernitz  37:25that is so interesting, and seems to have so many parallels to, you know, all the news coverage of development of vaccines and medications. It's really just as complex with crops, it seems. Becky Sideman  37:38It totally is. Yep, that's true. Emma E  37:41I guess, one follow up question I have is why you can find resistance to some diseases in crops and not others is that just because nobody's been doing breeding work for that crop? Like I'm thinking, if I'm looking at a catalog, I'll never see septoria leaf spot in tomatoes as something that plants resistant to? Becky Sideman  38:03Yeah, that's like a really deep question. Why is that? You know, is it because that pathogen is just really, really successful at colonizing that plant? And that it, it may target something specifically about the plant that it's really hard to not have the plant do for example, I don't know if that makes sense. But like, oftentimes, the way when you select resistant plants, they have lost whatever makes them susceptible to a particular pathogen, and maybe for septoria. And I agree, that's a particularly challenging one. And it's not that breeders haven't been trying because they've been trying really, really hard with that one. Is it just that septoria takes advantage of something in that plant that we just cannot do without? You know, that the tomato plant can't do without? That's it a deep question. Nate Bernitz  39:10We need a project warp speed for septoria leaf spot, clearly. Becky Sideman  39:14And if we did, it would likely be successful. Yeah. Nate Bernitz  39:18Are you familiar with instead of disease resistance, insect resistance? What are there any examples that come to mind? I'm just curious what insect pests a gardener might deal with where they actually might be able to find a variety that has some resistance to it? Becky Sideman  39:36Well, the best example that I can think of, well, actually, I can think of a few different varieties. So are a few different examples. So one example I can think of his striped cucumber beetle. So striped cucumber beetles, a pest that probably most gardeners are familiar with if they grow squash or cucumbers or melons, or anybody else. That family, it turns out that squash, cucumber beetles are really, really attracted to a certain class of compounds that cucurbits produce called cucurbitaceae. And that there are varieties and species of cucurbits that produce really high levels of cucurbitaceae that are crazily attractive to cucumber beetle. And on the flip side, there are ones that are much lower cucurbitaceae than producers and therefore less attractive. This is an example where even though there are studies that have shown this, and there are examples of more tolerant varieties that, you know, cucumber beetle avoids, it's been really difficult to get that sort of widespread in all our varieties. So even though it's out there, it's really not super widespread. There's other examples I can think of. Like some of the Harrier, tomatoes and potatoes are more resistant to certain insects that have difficulty actually feeding on the leaves, that results and some resistance the insects but also resistance to diseases that they transmit, for example. Nate Bernitz  41:30that is really fascinating and more complex again, than I would have thought it's not a direct resistance to the insect as much as some sort of environmental or kind of indirect resistance. Becky Sideman  41:46It is more complicated when you have an insect feeding on a crop than with a pathogen. It shows up there and lands on the crop. And either that works or it doesn't work. But with insects, they're actually actively choosing where they go. And so that brings a whole nother like, how does the crop look? Not only How does the crop taste and what are they attracted to versus not? And it's, it's very complicated, you should have Anna on for conversation about this. Nate Bernitz  42:19We sure are going to. the host of over informed on IPM, another UNH extension podcast. Absolutely. Becky Sideman  42:27She would over inform you on that for sure. Nate Bernitz  42:31So we've been talking a while I don't I don't want to go much longer. But I do want to ask lastly about local adaptation of buying locally, because you mentioned that there are some benefits to buying locally. But this idea of local adaptation, I am curious about what it means. I know that that's one reason why land grant universities extensions, Agricultural Experiment stations are actually doing work at the local level is to try and develop these locally adapted varieties. So what can you tell us about local adaptation, Becky Sideman  43:12it can mean any of a number of things. But at the most basic level, when you do Plant Breeding, and you develop varieties, you take these very diverse populations that are like variable for everything, they're segregating for all kinds of traits. And you go out and you look to see what are the most attractive, productive, best tasting fabulous things here, and you select those, and you go from that. And if that work happens only in let's take, for example, the Central Valley of California, you can imagine that you would select some really great varieties. But when you take those here, the whole and grow them here, you can imagine that our environmental conditions are just nothing like those environmental conditions. And there's this genetic gene by environment interaction that takes place where crops just may not perform the same way in different environments. And so, you know, to the extent that we can evaluate, select, and not just evaluate, but actually do selection and plant breeding in a wide variety of environments, we're more likely to result in some things that are actually going to perform really well consistently in those environments. If that makes sense. Nate Bernitz  44:52It does make a lot of sense. I'm really curious about what your role is, you know, how do you actually come up with recommendations for growers in New Hampshire. Becky Sideman  45:03There are heirloom varieties that were selected and grown for many years in this region that are well adapted to here because people farmers selected them and continued them, I can think of some older Flint corn varieties that fall into this category, for example. But the way hybrids are developed is that open pollinated lines are selected and bred in a given area, and then they're cross together and the hybrid suitability is evaluated. So the same exact processes apply. And locally adapted hybrids are just as much a thing as locally adapted open pollinated varieties. For example, a lot of Brent Loy's cucurbit varieties over the years are hybrids, and they're extremely well adapted to our conditions. Just because something was bred here doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be super well adapted here. But we'd like to think it is, and that there's a better chance probably, but I think there's also a role for continued evaluation. Many seed companies do this. Many researchers at Agricultural Experiment stations like myself do this, where we take a bunch of varieties that we think are gonna do well here. And we actually grow them over repeated seasons, and evaluate how they do actually in the face of environmental variability that that comes along. And that's usually pretty informative, because sometimes sometimes things perform as you'd expect, and sometimes they don't. And sometimes the weather conditions are just weird. And you get some you learn have weaknesses that you would not have necessarily predicted for a variety. So I think that variety, testing is also important, as well as variety development in a region. While I, I'm always really happy to share my results with farmers and gardeners in the state and in the region. I recognize that there's actually a lot of room for grower preference. And I actually think it's really, really, really important that you evaluate for yourself and compare for yourself a bunch of different varieties, especially if you you know, maybe it's not so important if you just want to go a little bit of something. But if you're a real broccoli aficionado, you should probably grow a bunch of varieties, because you'll certainly have preferences and they won't be the same as my preferences, and they won't be the same as seed catalog preferences. We always do this, when we have grower conferences, I asked what are people's favorite varieties? And you get this whole list? And then you say, what are people's least favorite varieties? And it's the exact same whole list, it's just different people have given the answers. So I think there's I do not think there are best varieties, only a few. I think that it depends on your own situation. Nate Bernitz  48:21Yeah, I guess there's a role for personal preference. There's also a role for personal experience, right? What actually does well in your garden, what does well in Durham, New Hampshire, you know, may or may not do well, where ever you are in your garden, maybe even What does well for someone on the other side of town, not necessarily do well in your garden. So the role of journaling, or, in your case spreadsheeting? That's not a verb. But we'll just roll with it. And just trialing you know, whether it's on the Research Farm or in your garden, Becky, I'm just curious, where can people go to learn more about you and your research? How can they do it? Becky Sideman  49:07Of course they do. So on UNH extensions website, there is a section called applied research. I should look that up and make sure that's really what it is called. I think it's called that and I applied vegetable and fruit research. And I publish all of my research reports, they're even before I publish them in manuscripts or anything like that, so that they're ready for for farmers and gardeners to read. And they're usually in the kind of dorky detail that you'd really want if you are an afficionado of crop X, Y or Z. So those have my contact info on them and people can always just reach out directly. And if you want to see what we're up to on the moment, you should follow UNH Sideman Lab on Instagram because We're always posting photogenic pictures of whatever crops were playing with at the moment. Nate Bernitz  50:07Can confirm - a great follow. Okay, closing question, Becky, what's one variety of something that you grew last year in your garden that you just can't wait to grow again, one single recommendation that you just can't wait to share? Becky Sideman  50:26I grew tetsuKabuto winter squash last year, on my mom's recommendation from the previous year, and it's a fabulous storage variety. It's a cross between a maxima and a moschata. So it's a really delicious, good storing winter squash variety. And we're really enjoying eating it right about now. And so I am looking forward to growing tetsuKabuto  again, which for those that are curious, I did have to Google This means steel helmet, in Japanese. Nate Bernitz  51:04Hey, as long as you don't have to spell it right? Becky Sideman  51:06That's right. Nate Bernitz  51:08Well, thanks for coming on Granite State gardening. Becky, you've been our first guest and an absolutely wonderful guests to have. It's been a real treat, getting to talk to you. I hope we'll have the opportunity to do so again. Becky Sideman  51:23This was a pleasure from my end as well. Thanks for having me. Emma Erler  51:46This episode's featured plant is Malabar spinach, Basella alba. Malabar spinach is an annual vine that is native to the East Indies. It can be grown as a vegetable plant or as an ornamental vine. As a vegetable. It has edible spinach like stems and leaves, and though it's entirely unrelated to spinach, the leaves have a very similar flavor and are packed with vitamins A and C and calcium and iron. The leaves and stems can be picked as needed for soup salad source stir fries. The leaves of the plant themselves are glossy green with smooth edges and the stems are deep burgundy read this lens the plant to ornamental uses as well on fence posts trellises or hanging baskets. A nice thing about Malabar spinach is that it really thrives in hot weather. Unlike spinach, it can be grown easily in any garden that has rich consistently moist soil and full sun. If you want to grow Malabar spinach, start seeds indoors six to eight weeks before the last spring frost date or so directly in the garden after the last spring frost date. As vines grow, train them on a trellis or other support to keep the foliage clean and ready for harvest. Malabar spinach climbs by twinning, so it will wrap around those structures. In conclusion, if you're looking to try something new and interesting in your garden this year, give Malabar spinach a try.  Emma E  53:24I'd like to close this episode with a tip on staking tomato plants. I think most everyone knows that tomatoes require some type of support, but you may not be clear on what the best options are. Circular tomato cages are the most common, but they aren't my favorite. Though they do a good job of keeping the foliage and fruit off of the ground. tomato cages have a way of compressing stems and foliage together, reducing airflow through plants, raising humidity and prolonging leaf wetness. So if you've had issues with fungal diseases on tomatoes before, tomato cages probably aren't helping. Instead, I like to support individual plants with tall upright steaks, like four to five foot wooden stakes or rebar. As the plants grow, I use twine to tie one or two main stems to the support. To keep the tomato plant tidy. I remove all of the suckers, that is new stems that develop in the leaf axles so that I'm maintaining just one or two leaders. Another option is a basket weave system, where stakes are driven between plants and twine is woven between plants in the stakes in an S shaped pattern, like you would if you were actually weaving a basket. If you can't picture what I mean. Be sure to check out the UNH extension factsheet on pruning tomato plants. Now is a great time to plan ahead for your 2021 garden. Nate Bernitz  55:02Email us at GSG dot pod@unh.edu to share your feedback suggest future episodes, and of course to ask gardening questions. If you're enjoying this podcast so far, consider giving us a five star review wherever you're listening. That's going to help other gardeners find this podcast. If you're not connected with us on social media yet, just search for ask UNH extension. We'd love to connect with you there. You can get regular content updates, we share interesting articles, gardening tips, and it's just a great community of gardeners. One last way you can connect with us is to subscribe to the Granite State gardening newsletter. All of these links are in the description of this podcast, along with some articles that relate to the topics we've discussed today. Definitely check out that description. Our next episode is on foliage house plants. Be sure to tune in. Thanks for tuning in to Granite State gardening a production of UNH Cooperative Extension until next time, Becky Sideman  56:10Keep on growing Granite State gardeners. Nate Bernitz  56:15Granite State gardening is a production of University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and equal opportunity educator and employer views expressed on this podcast are not necessarily those of the university's its trustees, or its volunteers. inclusion or exclusion of commercial products on this podcast does not imply endorsement. The University of New Hampshire US Department of Agriculture and New Hampshire County is cooperate to provide extension programming in the Granite State. Learn more at extension unh.edu

 In this episode, we read Chapters 12 to 15 of Sense and Sensibility. We talk about how Margaret's contribution to the plot, how Elinor and Marianne's debate on sense vs sensibility moves from the theoretical to the practical, the linking of propriety with morality, how the mystery subplot is quite unusual in Jane Austen, and the nasty tone of some of Willoughby's jokes about Colonel Brandon. We discuss the character of Colonel Brandon, then Harriet's partner Michael talks about the military, with a focus on service in the East Indies. Harriet talks about how adaptations and modernisations treat these chapters, and the presentation of Colonel Brandon.  Things we mention:  References: Jane Nardin, Those Elegant Decorums: The concept of propriety in Jane Austen's novels (1973)Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740)Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady (1748)Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764)Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern, Talking of Jane Austen (1943) and More Talk of Jane Austen (1950) Marvin Mudrick, Jane Austen: Irony as Defense and Discovery (1974) Adaptations of the book:  BBC, Sense and Sensibility (1971) – starring Joanna David and Ciaran Madden (4 episodes)BBC, Sense and Sensibility (1981) – starring Irene Richard and Tracey Childs (7 episodes)Columbia Pictures, Sense and Sensibility (1995) – starring Emma Thompson and Kate WinsletBBC, Sense and Sensibility (2008) – starring Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield (3 episodes)  Modernisations of the book: MGM, Material Girls (2006) – starring Hilary Duff and Haylie DuffJoanna Trollope, Sense & Sensibility (The Austen Project #1) (2013)YouTube, Elinor and Marianne Take Barton (2014) – starring Abi Davies and Bonita Trigg  Variations on the book:  Amanda Grange, Colonel Brandon's Diary (2008)  Creative commons music used: Extract from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata No. 12 in F Major, ii. Adagio. Extract from Joseph Haydn, Piano Sonata No. 38. Performance by Ivan Ilić, recorded in Manchester in December, 2006. File originally from IMSLP.Extract from Wolfgang Amad

As a school kid , I have always wondered, why are Daman & Diu grouped together as a single Union Territory inspite of being so far from each other, especially when Daman & and other Union Territory of Dadra & Nagra Haveli were just 20 kilometres apart. And Dadra & Nagar Haveli had its own one day Prime Minister in 1961. The invention of the Caravel shipping boat, proved to be an inflection point in seafaring in Europe. Vasco da Gama, the Portugese explorer successfully set sail to East Indies and landed in modern day Kozhikode on 20th May 1498, about 30 years before Babar established the Moghal Sultanate in India and a full 100 years before British set foot in Indian soil. Vasco da Gama himself made 2 more trips after that to India, the last one as the Viceroy of Portugese India. By the time Vasco da Gama made his last trip, the Portugese had moved their capital from modern day Cochin to Goa in the year 1510. In next couple of decades they had fortifications in several Indian cities on the Malabar coast - Cochin, Kannur, Quilon, Goa, Daman, Diu, Mangalore, Surat and the city of Good bay called Bom-bahia or modern day Mumbai. While several of these cities were either lost in wars with Indian kings or gifted to the British, Portugese continued to hold Diu, Daman, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Goa - and maintained suzerainty over these colonies for 450 years! Collectively these enclaves came to be referred as Estado da India or Portugese India. Fast forward to 15th August 1947. India gained independence from the British and became a free nation. The country had several provinces administered directly by the British and 560+ princely states. By 1950, India became a republic and all princely states completely acceded to the Indian Union. Now it was the turn of the non British run colonies in the Indian sub continent to fall in line. How did Goa become part of India? To know more, listen to the podcast here or read/listen to the story in a platform of your choice from www.masalahistorybysiva.in

In this historical books segment with Guinevere Hall from Typeface Books we look at: Nathaniels Nutmeg: How One Man’s Courage Changed the Course of History – by Giles Milton The extraordinary adventure-filled story of how England came to own Manhattan in the seventeenth century. In 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a secret mission - to persuade the islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe. This infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to control the world's nutmeg supply. For five years Courthope and his band of thirty men were besieged by a force one hundred times greater - and his heroism set in motion the events that led to the founding of the greatest city on earth. The Anarchy: The relentless rise of the East India Company - by William Dalrymple In his most ambitious book to date, bestselling historian William Dalrymple tells the timely and cautionary tale of the rise of the East India Company and one of the most supreme acts of corporate violence in world history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whitest White to the Blackest Black! Never Stop Dreaming! Akira is empowered by her G-Pa and Pa from nostalgic East Indies days in Bombay. Akira's Australia is all about big-ass Magnums and lamingtons! Life has its challenges for a young looking Asian woman. However, Akira and Madam Chan are determined to empower the power of gentleness. If Akira became the Minister for Women, Australia would lead the way for all shades of women from the whitest white to the blackest black! Timestamp: Intro; [0:55] Akira's heritage; [5:46] Australia arrival + big ass Magnum; [7:48] Ageism and Asian genes; [10:53] Lady of the night, no joke; [13:41] Reach for the stars with Chicken Coop; [17:50] Penny + Gladys + Lee Lin Chin…Power in Gentleness; [20:14] Australian Minister for Women; [24:10] India Women Representation; [26:58] Bamboo + Glass Ceiling; [29:15] How should Boys/Men respond to Strong Girl/Women?; [34:14] Empower Men + Women; [35:57] I still Call Australia Home; [37:31] Fast 5 + Outro. THANK YOU LISTENERS! Thank you for listening to Captain Bagrat and supporting our Mission to Fight Boring News in Asia and Australia! YOUR MISSION should you dare to accept it is to click on a Captain Bagrat episode of your persuasion and leave a review on ApplePodcast! Click here https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/captain-bagrat/id1488838852 SHOUT OUT + U R A WINNER | We will give everyone who have reviewed Captain Bagrat a special shout out! We will pick a winning review each month. The lucky winner will have the chance to podcast with Captain Bagrat in Downtown Chinatown! You pick the topic! Madam Chan will prep a cocktail of your choice and Liam will croon your fav song! #DoIt FANCLUB | Throw a few bucks at us each month on Patreon + TELL US WHAT YOU WANT! That'll keep us busy at the recording studio. Your support will forever be honoured with early access to new episodes, behind the scenes, patron only messages and more. Click here https://www.patreon.com/CaptainBagrat SPONSOR | Why not throw a few '00s or even ‘000s at us. In-kind sponsorship is also great. WE WILL NEVER SAY NO TO BEERS! Like Trump, we love quid pro quo deals! Contact us at Captain.Bagrat@gmail.com or Facebook to strike a deal and get your brand noticed! FOLLOW US: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/captainbagrat/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/captainbagrat/?hl=en Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/captain-bagrat/id1488838852 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vue3tjzKWoY6g70xrW3yp?si=XIRWKSDcS2SrL5uiejrukA Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9jjT1khKsG4UwZRngYa2g Patreon https://www.patreon.com/CaptainBagrat Thanks for your support! Bagrat Out! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/captainbagrat/message

The guys interview renown Diplomacy variant creator David E. Cohen before they test out an alliance for the ages: The Juggernaut. Intro The guys discuss their drinks and venue (0 mins 10 secs) They introduce the interview with David E. Cohen (3 mins 40 secs) Interview with David E. Cohen The interview starts badly with lots of technical issues - both in the initial connection and also the quality of the recording. Bear with us listeners, slightly normal service soon returns. That said there are chair squeaks and other background noise throughout the interview at our end (4 mins) Eventually their perseverance pays off as David explains his process for creating variants (7 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks where the idea for Known World 901 came from. David explains where it came from and how it fitted in with Western World 901  (8 mins 20 secs) Amby asks about the process of bringing together multiple maps into a single new game eg Maharaja coming together with Spice Islands to create an East Indies variant (9 mins 45 secs) Kaner brings up the Mandate of Heaven variant and how to port it across (11 mins) Kaner asks David about his first variant he created (16 mins 20 secs) He goes onto ask about his latest project, Dawn of the Enlightenment (17 mins 30 secs) David discusses his approach to breaking sea stalemate lines: High Seas provinces. They are similar to sealanes but allow multiple units in the same geographic space (19 mins) Amby asks about what feedback David has received during play testing (26 mins) David talks about the differing victory criteria for players and the timing of the variant (27 mins) Kaner asks about whether anyone is planning on porting Dawn of the Enlightenment to an online Diplomacy platform (29 mins 45 secs) He asks whether David has a rule of thumb for variant creators (30 mins 40 secs) David touches on his new variant he's started working on, Unconstitutional (33 mins 20 secs) Amby asks an Australia based question for Dawn of the Enlightenment (36 mins 50 secs) David covers off what variant developers need to avoid (38 mins 30 secs) Amby asks what pitch would David give to a classic player on why they should try playing a variant occasionally (40 mins 45 secs) Amby double checks about adjacency between the North and South Atlantic High Sea provinces (44 mins 20 secs) Kaner discusses how he'd approach porting the map across to vDiplomacy (46 mins) Amby asks about whether Kaner should put his effort into Dawn of the Enlightenment or Squirrel Wars (48 mins) Amby asks David who else's maps does he like when it comes to variants (49 mins 20 secs) They discuss the backing up of variants over at vDip (51 mins 30 secs) David discusses how much would be needed to buy the rights to Diplomacy (52 mins 30 secs) The guys start wrapping up the interview (53 mins 30 secs) After the interview they give their thoughts & Kaner announces he really has started working on Dawn of the Enlightenment. They discuss how maps are constructed and displayed in the online Diplomacy environment (54 mins 45 secs) They discuss trying to get access to the variant Lab with Flame. They talk about thoughts on the winning conditions, the High Seas provinces, the spread of SCs on the map and avoiding determined moves (58 mins 45 secs) Alliances that work: a Juggernaut case study The guys get some more beers while Kaner sets out the Diplomacy map on the table (1 hr 11 mins) They talk about a recent Patreon episode where they tested what happens when you have an unbreakable alliance and which are alliances that work. The guys are testing this by playing against the Bots at webDip (1 hr 12 mins) The discuss the random games they created and their thinking on why they chose to test the Juggernaut (1 hr 15 mins) They discuss Kaner wanting to do a slingshot, trying to trick the Bot players to thinking an RT is not happening (1 hr 18 mins) They discuss their potential moves (1 hr 21 mins 30 secs) Spring 1901   The guys discuss Spring 1901 (1 hr 25 mins) Next up they plan what to do in Fall 1901 (1 hr 28 mins) Kaner challenges Amby's thinking on a movement (1 hr 32 mins) Fall 1901 They finalise moves and discuss how the turn worked out - after Amby admits to a bit of a technical screw up (1 hr 36 mins 30 secs) The guys start planning their moves for Spring 1902 (1 hr 40 mins 40 secs) Spring 1902 They discuss the adjudication from Spring 1902 (1 hr 49 mins) Next up is their plans for Fall 1902 (1 hr 52 mins 20 secs) Fall 1902 They come back and discuss Fall (2 hrs 1 min) After talking builds, its time to discuss plans for Spring 1903 (2 hrs 4 mins) Spring 1903  After some more beers they breakdown the moves for spring 1903... including an embarrassing misorder by Amby (2 hrs 11 mins) The guys then start planning for Fall 1903 moves. Kaner teaches Amby another lesson on move logistics (2 hrs 16 mins 30 secs) Fall 1903 Amby discovers Kaner is right again as they examine Fall moves (2 hrs 24 mins) After some bitching from Kaner about his phone provider, its time for discussion about spring 1904 (2 hrs 30 mins) Spring 1904 The guys discuss the latest set of moves (2 hrs 33 mins) Onto planning for Fall 1904 (2 hrs 35 mins) Fall 1904 Time to unpack Fall 1904 and Amby's cheeky move pays off (2 hrs 41 mins 15 secs) After builds, the guys plan for Spring 1905 (2 hrs 45 mins) Spring 1905 The guys analyse the moves for Spring 1905 (2 hrs 50 mins) And before the guys wrap it up for the night, they plan for Fall 1905 (2 hrs 52 mins) Amby discusses a Virtual Diplomacy League game that Kaner might be interested in. Then its a little haircut talk (2 hrs 55 mins) Fall 1905 And in the last wrap up of the night, Kaner & Amby dissect Fall 1905 before wrapping the podcast up (3 hrs 1 min) Venue: Saccharomyces, Brisbane Drinks of choice: Kaner:  Black Hops Hornet IPA and Grifter Oatmeal Stout Amby: Black Hops Hornet IPA Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we look at one of the greatest maritime disasters in history, the wreck of the Batavia. I know what you’re thinking. It’s like the Titanic but back in time. No, not at all. This one involved mutiny, hanging a young girl off the side of the boat, a shipwreck, murder, sex slaves, more murder, and a war between the survivors on small islands in the East Indies. The Batavia was the newly build flagship of the Dutch East Indies Company (not to be confused with their rival the British East India Company). It set sail on its maiden voyage with a fleet loaded with silver and gold. Their job was to make it around the world on a very dangerous 8 month voyage to buy spices in Java. It was said that only one in four sailors would make it back from such a trip, but all would be sharing in a split of the riches if they did. This particular trip started off poorly. The skipper of the ship was named Ariaen Jacobsz. He had to take his order from the fleet commander Francisco Pelsaert. But, based on pervious encounters at sea, they hated each other’s guts. Toward the end of the journey, the animosity grew so much that Jacobsz and a merchant named Jeronimus Cornelisz planned for a mutiny. They had a poor woman named Lucretia Jansz get assaulted in the night on the ship. They knew the Commander would over react, and they could use this as an excuse to mutiny. Then, they could take the gold and silver and go start a new island nation, like you do. But the dumb asses ran ashore the next day in dangerous waters and wrecked the ship. 40 passengers died in the wreck, and the rest reached shore. The Commander got a ship and some of the heartiest of the men and headed out to find water. It took them 33 days to make it back due to a series of bad luck at island after island. In the meantime Cornelisz took over and lost his marbles. He started to orchestrate murders of the healthy and those who could stop him. He consolidated power, boats, and weapons and sent those loyal to the company off to “Find water,” so he had no competition. Throats were slit, people were pushed off boats, he even planned to poison a baby. There were sex slaves and starvation, and pretty much the worst depravity you could imagine. So, how did the banished soldiers end up fighting back? What type of inter-island war started between these groups? How did the soldiers survive the fights when they had no weapons? What became of the the Batavia's Commodore, and how was he able to return at the helm of a big new ship? What happened to the mutineers and murderers? Why do they think this wreck was the first time Europeans colonized Australia? Listen, laugh, learn.     Visit Our Sources: https://www.sea.museum/2016/06/04/barbarism-and-brutality-surviving-the-batavia-shipwreck https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/12/new-mass-grave-batavia-shipwreck-murder-australia-history/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavia_(1628_ship) http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/research-areas/maritime-archaeology/batavia-cape-inscription/batavia https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/wreck-of-the-batavia https://listverse.com/2018/06/15/10-punishments-of-the-royal-navy-during-the-age-of-sail/#:~:text=By%20the%201800s%2C%20this%20was,death%20was%20slow%20and%20painful.    

After gaining maritime knowledge, the Portuguese embark on explorations that lead to the discovery of islands that become their new outposts. In search of gold, they reach the west African coast and instead create a new slave market by enslaving and trading descendants of ancient Israelites. Meanwhile, Spain finances Columbus’s first voyage to the New World—mistaken for the East Indies—which touches off the European age of “discovery.”

This episode describes the invention of the astrolabe and bring Vasco da Gama journey to the East Indies to light and explains its roll in today's society.

Episode 12 features Lysholm Linie Aquavit from Norway. It's a caraway flavored potato-based liquor bottled at 41.5% alcohol by volume, 83 proof. Enjoy this episode with some Linie neat! Linie's official website: https://linie.com/ (https://linie.com/) Brief Historical Timeline: 1805 - Lysholm ships aquavit to the East Indies, nobody buys it 1807 - Aquavit shipment returns to Norway, aged from the sea voyage 1821 - Current recipe developed 2103 - Over 2.5 million bottles produced that year 2018/19 - The Linie Proof live stream of a shipment of maturing aquavit Key Cocktail: Linie isn't really meant for mixing. You simply drink it neat as they do in Norway. However, the Linie website has a few recipes. References: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY3oefbX34U (Euromaxx TV segment from 2013). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqwzexlXXlM (60 Second Linie TV ad for the US market) Adam Rogers' book: https://www.amazon.com/Proof-Science-Booze-Adam-Rogers/dp/0544538544 (Proof, the Science of Booze) Contact Information: Official show website is: https://www.liquorandliqueurconnoisseur.com/ (www.liquorandliqueurconnoisseur.com) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liquorandliqueurconnoisseur (https://www.facebook.com/liquorandliqueurconnoisseur) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LiquorandLiqueurConnoisseur/ (https://www.instagram.com/LiquorandLiqueurConnoisseur/) Twitter: @LLConnoisseur

#ChristopherColumbus [a] (/kəˈlʌmbəs/;[3] before 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer and colonizer who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that opened the New World for conquest and permanent European colonization of the Americas. His expeditions, sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, were the first European contact with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. #Columbus's early life is somewhat obscure, but scholars generally agree that he was born in the Republic of Genoa and spoke a dialect of Ligurian as his first language. He went to sea at a young age and travelled widely, as far north as the British Isles (and possibly Iceland) and as far south as what is now Ghana. He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo and was based in Lisbon for several years, but later took a Castilian mistress; he had one son with each woman. Though largely self-educated, Columbus was widely read in geography, astronomy, and history. He formulated a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade. Following persistent lobbying, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II agreed to sponsor a journey west, in the name of the Crown of Castile. Columbus left Castile in August 1492 with three ships, and after a stopover in the Canary Islands made landfall in the Americas on 12 October (later celebrated as Columbus Day). His landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani; its exact location is uncertain. Columbus subsequently visited the islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola, establishing a colony in what is now Haiti—the first European settlement in the Americas since the Norse colonies nearly 500 years earlier. He arrived back in Castile in early 1493, bringing a number of captive natives with him. Word of his voyages soon spread throughout Europe. Columbus made three further voyages to the New World, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and the eastern coast of Central America in 1502. Many of the names he gave to geographical features—particularly islands—are still in use. He continued to seek a passage to the East Indies, and the extent to which he was aware that the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain. He never clearly renounced his belief that he had reached the Far East and gave the name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered. Columbus's strained relationship with the Spanish crown and its appointed colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over the benefits that he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown. Columbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for centuries, helping create the modern Western world. The transfers between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are known as the Columbian exchange, and the period of human habitation in the Americas prior to his arrival is referred to as the Pre-Columbian era. weki Columbus's legacy continues to be debated. He was widely venerated in the centuries after his death, but public perceptions have changed as recent scholars have given greater attention to negative aspects of his life, such as his enslavement of the indigenous population in his quest for gold and his brutal subjugation of the Taíno people, leading to their near-extinction, as well as allegations of tyranny towards Spanish colonists. Many landmarks and institutions in the Western Hemisphere bear his name, including the country of Colombia and the name Columbia, which is used as a personification for the United States, and appears in many place names there. weki --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vegansteven/message

Whitest White to the Blackest Black!Never Stop Dreaming! Akira is empowered by her G-Pa and Pa from nostalgic East Indies days in Bombay. Akira’s Australia is all about big-ass Magnums and lamingtons! Life has its challenges for a young looking Asian woman. However, Akira and Madam Chan are determined to empower the power of gentleness. If Akira became the Minister for Women, Australia would lead the way for all shades of women from the whitest white to the blackest black! Timestamp: Intro; [0:55] Akira’s heritage; [5:46] Australia arrival + big ass Magnum; [7:48] Ageism and Asian genes; [10:53] Lady of the night, no joke; [13:41] Reach for the stars with Chicken Coop; [17:50] Penny + Gladys + Lee Lin Chin…Power in Gentleness; [20:14] Australian Minister for Women; [24:10] India Women Representation; [26:58] Bamboo + Glass Ceiling; [29:15] How should Boys/Men respond to Strong Girl/Women?; [34:14] Empower Men + Women; [35:57] I still Call Australia Home; [37:31] Fast 5 + Outro. THANK YOU LISTENERS!Thank you for listening to Captain Bagrat and supporting our Mission to Fight Boring News in Asia and Australia!YOUR MISSION should you dare to accept it is to click on a Captain Bagrat episode of your persuasion and leave a review on ApplePodcast! Click here https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/captain-bagrat/id1488838852SHOUT OUT + U R A WINNER | We will give everyone who have reviewed Captain Bagrat a special shout out! We will pick a winning review each month. The lucky winner will have the chance to podcast with Captain Bagrat in Downtown Chinatown! You pick the topic! Madam Chan will prep a cocktail of your choice and Liam will croon your fav song! #DoIt FANCLUB | Throw a few bucks at us each month on Patreon + TELL US WHAT YOU WANT! That’ll keep us busy at the recording studio. Your support will forever be honoured with early access to new episodes, behind the scenes, patron only messages and more. Click here https://www.patreon.com/CaptainBagratSPONSOR | Why not throw a few ’00s or even ‘000s at us. In-kind sponsorship is also great. WE WILL NEVER SAY NO TO BEERS! Like Trump, we love quid pro quo deals! Contact us at Captain.Bagrat@gmail.com  or Facebook to strike a deal and get your brand noticed! FOLLOW US: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/captainbagrat/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/captainbagrat/?hl=en Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/captain-bagrat/id1488838852Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vue3tjzKWoY6g70xrW3yp?si=XIRWKSDcS2SrL5uiejrukA Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9jjT1khKsG4UwZRngYa2gPatreon https://www.patreon.com/CaptainBagrat Thanks for your support! Bagrat Out! 

We have a fun mystery bird this week, the forest raven! Was it a real bird??? (hint: yes, but not a raven) The "forest raven" illustration from Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner's Historiae Animalium, published in 1555: Scans of the original pages about the forest raven. It's written in Latin: The Northern bald ibis. Wacky hair! Flying bald ibises: Further viewing: This Weird Bird May Have Been the First Protected Species Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. It’s high time we had a mystery animal episode, so this week we’re going to learn about a mystery bird, one with a satisfying conclusion. The story starts almost 470 years ago, when a scholar and physician named Conrad Gessner, who lived in Switzerland, published a book called Historia animalium. The book wasn’t like the medieval bestiaries of previous centuries, in which fantastical and real animals were listed together and half the information consisted of local superstitions. Gessner was an early naturalist, a scientist long before the term was in general use. Historia animalium consisted of five volumes with a total of more than 4,500 pages, and in it Gessner attempted to describe every single animal in the world, drawing from classical sources such as Pliny the Elder and Aristotle as well as his own observations and study. The book contained animals that had only recently been discovered by Europeans at the time, including animals from the Americas and the East Indies. It also included a few entries which no one today believes ever existed, like the fish-like sea monk and sea bishop. Those and similar monsters were probably added by Gessner’s publishers against his will or maybe just without him knowing, since he was seriously ill by the time the volume on fish was published. For the most part, the book was as scholarly as was possible in the mid-16th century and was lavishly illustrated too. Volume three, about birds, was published in 1555, and it included an entry for a bird Gessner called the waldrapp, or forest raven. But the illustration didn’t look anything like a raven. The bird has a relatively long neck, a crest of feathers on the back of its head, and a really long bill that ends in a little hook. Gessner wrote that the bird was found in Switzerland and was good to eat. In fact, I spent an entire morning finding the original scanned pages of a copy of the forest raven entry, typing them as well as I could and modernizing the spelling where I knew how, and using Google translate from Latin to English. The results were…not entirely coherent. Then, after I’d done all that, I continued my research, and that included watching a short BBC film about the bird--which included part of the translation! So I transcribed it. Here’s a translation cobbled together from the BBC’s translation and other parts of the passage that me and Google translate could figure out: “The bird is generally called by our people the Waldrapp, or forest raven, because it lives in uninhabited woods where it nests in high cliffs or old ruined towers in castles. Men sometimes rob the nests by hanging from ropes. It acquires a bald head in its age. It is the size of a hen, quite black from a distance, but if you look at it close, especially in the sun, you will consider it mixed with green. The Swiss forest raven has the body of a crane, long legs, and a thick red bill, slightly curved and six inches long. Its legs and feet are longer than those of a chicken. Its tail is short, it has long feathers at the back of its head, and the bill is red. The bill is suited for poking in the ground to extract worms and beetles which hide themselves in such places. It flies very high and lays two or three eggs. The young ones are also praised as an article of food and are considered a great delicacy, for they have lovely flesh and soft bones. Those who rob the nests of young take care to leave one chick so ...

Tonight, we’ll read the second part to, "The Swiss Family Robinson". "The Swiss Family Robinson" is an 1812 novel by Johann David Wyss, about a Swiss family shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Australia. Wyss, a Swiss pastor, originally wrote this book to entertain and instruct his four sons. In part 1, The Robinsons' ship wrecks and the family decide to explore what is left the next day. They make a boat and decide to set sail for an island on the horizon. — read by 'N' pt. 1 air date: January 22, 2020 Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

The guys make it to Melbourne for PoppyCon and discuss their plans for the tournament, an interview with host Melissa Call, and follow up interview with multi-WDC winner Andrew Goff and Melissa, before a wrap up of Amby's Divided States game and more. Intro, news & their thoughts on what to do at the tournament The guys introduce the show, making it to Melbourne before the Coronavirus really started impacting. They introduce their drinks, venue and Kaner asks Amby what is game plans are for the PoppyCon tournament. Kaner goes onto give some history lessons about Victoria  (0 mins 10 secs) They give some local history (4 mins) They talk a little Coronavirus (6 mins 30 secs) Kaner discusses his three build England plan for the tournament. Amby asks about the prospects of a four build Russia and getting a bluewater Russian fleet in the Med to take Tunis in 1903. They go on to talk about how face to face games lend themselves more to crazy alliances happening compared to online (8 mins 55 secs) Interview with Melissa Call The interview starts with Melissa (Mel) Call, the host of the PoppyCon tournament. Before recording Kaner asked Mel what her favourite country to play is. Her average SC count playing as Russia in Australia is 11 and hasn't been eliminated locally. Amby asks about what strategy do you need to follow to play a good Russia (18 mins) Kaner reflects on his Russian gameplay, which Mel advises on. Mel talks about not being the first person to 10 SC's (22 mins 45 secs) Kaner discusses Mel's tactic of getting bickering happening in the centre of the board (24 mins 50 secs) She discusses the value of a Russian-German alliance (26 mins 30 secs) Kaner asks about which alliance on the board gets her worried as Russia (28 mins 15 secs) Amby asks if Mel has any particular plans for this tournament. Kaner asks why France is her least favourite country. Mel also gives her thoughts as England and the English Channel (30 mins) Amby asks what the PoppyCon tournament is all about (33 mins 25 secs) Amby discusses how there is a certain thrill to a face to face tournament and his one time he's replicated it in the online environment (40 mins) Amby asks Mel how she feels when she's been betrayed (42 mins 30 secs) Kaner reflects how experienced players and relatively new players react very differently to a well orchestrated stab (43 mins 45 secs) Amby asks Mel as a female Diplomacy player, how she feels she's been treated and how to get more women into the game (45 mins 15 secs) They discuss choice of words and deception (52 mins) Mel talks about playing people, not countries (54 mins) Amby asks about how Mel's strategy may change if she's up against a great player (54 mins 45 secs) Amby asks how to approach things if your ally is showing tell-signs, impacting your alliance (57 mins 30 secs) Interview with Andrew Goff and Melissa Call Andrew Goff (Goffy) joins the interview, as well as Mel's husband Matt and Goffy's partner Albert (59 mins) They return to the earlier topic of dealing with good players (60 mins) Amby asks Goffy and Mel what new players should do when it comes to trusting players (1 hr 1 min 15 secs) Goffy talks about new players learning from their mistake and finding someone you can trust and learn from them (1 hr 5 mins) Amby asks Mel about the bullshit detector and trust (1 hr 6 mins 15 secs) They discuss Goffy's "little drops of poison" and how other players view his gameplay. He gives his perspective on that (1 hr 10 mins 30 secs) Goffy talks about not worrying how many builds he gets in 1901, but then goes onto discuss a massive opening (1 hr 15 mins) He recommends online players coming to face to face and doing things they've never done before and watching the tight timeframes (1 hr 18 mins) Mel reflects that you can read a lot about the culture of the tournament by reading the rules. Goffy stresses not pissing off the tournament director (1 hr 20 mins 30 sec) Goffy gives his thoughts on tournaments with and without top boards (1 hr 27 mins 30 secs) Amby asks what a newbie player should worry about (1 hr 28 mins 30 secs) They start discussing intermediate player strategy (1 hr 34 mins) Goffy announces the 2021 WDC will be held Battlefield Bangkok at the end of July 2021. He outlines how accommodation is great value in the area and its a fantastic venue (1 hr 35 mins 40 secs) Kaner gives a big wrap about Bangkok (1 hr 37 mins 50 secs) Goffy discusses a number of events for players at WDC 2021 (1 hr 39 mins) Goffy says he won't be playing as he'll the tournament director (1 hr 40 mins) Kaner asks Goffy about the culture of Australians spying on players' writing orders. They expand on gamesmanship, culture and rules (1 hr 43 mins) Goffy discusses you're only really new in tournaments for 3 or 4 games and how to do well in a tournament, although maybe not necessarily win (1 hr 48 mins 30 secs) Goffy mentions how some US players can hold a grudge. He then discusses how European games often end (1 hr 55 mins 30 secs) He talks about fake orders and unguarding your orders (2 hrs) His next intermediate tip is to not have favourite countries, alliances and players (2 hrs 30 mins 50 secs) Amby asks if when the countries are assigned in a tournament, does Goffy have a predetermined plan in mind (2 hrs 4 mins 30 secs) They discuss the Flying Dutchman (illegally having an extra unit on the board) and why tricks are for kids (2 hrs 9 mins 30 secs) They wrap up the interview (2 hrs 13 mins) Post interview chat Kaner suggests the idea of recording discussions at the tournament (2 hrs 14 mins) The guys discuss hats (2 hrs 16 mins) They return to the conversation about recording discussions (2 hrs 18 mins 30 secs) Amby suggests that listeners give us a Shit Sandwich: something complementary, something you don't like and then end on something complementary again (2 hrs 19 mins 50 secs) Amby solos his 50 player Divided States game Amby has won the Undivided States game that they've been talking about for almost two years. Amby starts discussing what worked in his favor (2 hrs 20 mins 45 secs)   Kaner asks what its like ordering 127 units to order. In answering Amby talks about the holding vs attacking (2 hrs 23 mins 10 secs) Kaner asks Amby how it approached discussions on the game in the podcast and whether listeners at some point worked out who Amby was despite it being an anonymous game (2 hrs 24 mins 50 secs) Kaner then goes onto discuss Amby's hopes on rankings and how that went (2 hrs 28 mins 40 secs) Future game plans & Diplomacy projects Amby discusses his Discord game and how he's interested in one or two of nopunin10did's upcoming Discord games: Saga of the Nine and Order of the Dragon. He also discusses getting more involved in the Nexus tournament (2 hrs 30 mins 45 secs) Kaner asks Amby, aside from this, whether he's going to take a break from variants (2 hrs 32 mins 40 secs) Amby mentions how the Minnesota Diplomacy Club and Windy City Weasles found Meetup brought in a lot of extra face to face players (2 hrs 33 mins 30 secs) [Amby post-episode: we obviously WON'T be doing this until the whole Coronavirus thing is under control] Kaner asks whether Amby might jump back into variant creation. Amby gives his thoughts on what he'd tackle, first up is a Classic map with standing neutrals. Kaner suggests maybe changing the opening unit types to a build start so Italy isn't totally hamstrung (2 hrs 36 mins) Amby discusses his next cab off the rank, a Roman Empire Crisis of the Third Century  variant (see previous discussion on this idea in episode 22) (2 hrs 41 mins 30 secs) Amby briefly touches on a "true" Cold War map (but forgets about detail) and then discusses a proto-historical Colonial map of the American east coast and how to approach gunpowder European powers against Native Americans (2 hrs 45 mins 20 secs) After another drink Kaner proposes a Khmer Empire map in southeast Asia. He goes onto discuss gopher's idea of a White Russia vs Red Russia variant. Then he gives his thoughts of the colonisation of the East Indies (2 hrs 48 mins 45 secs) They talk Melbourne shopping before announcing the show is no longer an Amazon affiliate (2 hrs 52 mins 30 secs) Kaner talks about being a Victorian with mix-allegiances and Australian namesays (2 hrs 55 mins) The guys start wrapping up the episode (3 hrs 0 mins 45 secs) Venue: Saint and Rogue, Melbourne Drinks of choice: Kaner - White Rabbit dark ale from Healesville, Victoria Amby - Tooborak American Gunslinger's pale ale from the Tooborak, Victoria Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help improve the audio equipment... or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

Episode Notes Welcome to Mythstorie, a podcast about myths and history. Join Bryent and Cammy as they hit up Edward Teach AKA Blackbeard and his totally legit beard burning techniques as well as his actually legit raids in the Carolinas and East Indies. Enjoy!

In the third episode of season 9 of the 5 Minute Biographies podcast we take a brief look at the life of the man who tried to get the the East Indies and stumbled across the Americas - Christopher Columbus. Please consider supporting the show by buying me a coffee at http://www.5minutebiographies.com/coffee/  - Thanks!

'In Stockwin's hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world' - Guardian Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell, and swashbuckling adventure during the great Age of Sail: To the Eastern Seas will be the twenty-second novel in Julian Stockwin's acclaimed Thomas Kydd series. With Bonaparte held to a stalemate in Europe, the race to empire is now resumed. Britain's ambitions turn to the Spice Islands, the Dutch East Indies, where Admiral Pellew has been sent to confront the enemy's vastly rich holdings in these tropical islands. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd joins reinforcements to snatch these for the British Crown. The two colonial masters of India and the East Indies face each other in mortal striving for the region - there can be only one victor to hold all the spoils. The colonial genius, Stamford Raffles, believes Britain should strike at the very centre of Dutch spice production, the Moluccas, rather than the fortresses one by one but is fiercely opposed. Kydd, allying himself to this cause, conspires to lead a tiny force to a triumphant conclusion - however the Dutch, stung by this loss, claim vengeance from the French. A battle for Java and an empire in the East stretches Kydd and Tyger's company to their very limits.

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, yep it is our 2nd birthday episode. We wish to say thank you to everyone who listens to us. We really appreciate all the support and encouragement we have received. It has been an amazing experience that we have all enjoyed on the Nerds team. Well, here is to another year of Nerdity and fun, we hope you enjoy everything as we continue to look for those items we enjoy learning about and discussing. First up this week Buck brings us news that Global Warming is being slowed by a phenomenon known as Global Greening. Apparently all the carbon emissions have provided a positive impact for the trees and plants. Now, this is only a small impact and not enough to celebrate with street parties, but still it is some good news. So with this news coming to light and in the wake of the recent bushfires in Australia it might be a good idea to plant some trees or bushes to help the environment. If nothing else it will give the computers and consoles a break for an hour or two. Next up DJ has the first reactions to the new Dune movie, and it is looking promising. Of course Professor and Buck being the fans they are have some reservations, but are excited to see the latest offering when it is released. There is the usual discussion about who might be the best option for director, what were the failures in the previous movies; and what were the successes from them as well. But hopefully one day an offering will be presented that is worthy of Frank Herbert’s legendary work. DJ continues with a discussion on the impact of the Coronavirus on the Chinese film industry. There have been major disruptions in the Chinese economy and a large section of the industry is on hold while China tries to combat this epidemic. We discuss the broad effects of this, but we wish everyone well and hope that this is contained and treated soon. Professor has a list of 14 new games that are planned to be released this next fiscal year by EA. We have a look at the offerings and discuss what we think is the most exciting or interesting of these releases. Now it might interest you to know that what we found as the most interesting games to look forward to. We will tell you, to find out listen in and learn what are the games being released that Professor is most interested to see. Also what game Buck thinks should move across to the EA studio catalogue; and what he thinks is an approach to the new Battlefield game if the crew behind Star Citizen were involved. As usual we have the Shout outs, Remembrances, Birthdays, and Events of Interest for the week. We invite you to check out MySongsSuck, with our man Alex Smith. Also there is there offering of The Story Chunder, which is sure to delight some and perchance disgust others. As always remember to take care of yourselves, look out for each other, and stay hydrated.Global Greening - https://phys.org/news/2020-01-planet-greener-global.html - https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-019-0001-x First reaction to the new Dune movie are out -https://boundingintocomics.com/2020/01/30/early-reactions-to-denis-villeneuves-dune-describe-it-as-phenomenal-compared-to-lord-of-the-rings/Next victim of the coronavirus hitlist…the Chinese film industry -https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chinas-film-industry-takes-stock-market-beating-as-trading-resumes-coronavirus-crisis-1275718EA’s plan for 2020…. release 14 games - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-31-ea-planning-to-publish-14-games-next-fiscal-yearGames PlayedProfessor– Quake - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2310/QUAKE/ Rating – 2.5/5Buck– Hero Wars - https://www.facebook.com/herowarsgame/Rating – 1.5/5DJ– Ironsight - https://store.steampowered.com/app/715220/Ironsight/Rating – 2/5Other topics discussedOne climate change prediction being wrong - https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/11/12/one-of-the-longest-running-climate-prediction-blunders-has-disappeared-from-the-internet/Gulf Stream (warm and swift Atlanticocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and stretches to the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean as the North Atlantic Current.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream2019 Ozone Hole is the smallest since its smallest- https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/2019-ozone-hole-is-the-smallest-on-record-since-its-discoveryWorld’s tallest timber tower in Norway- https://www.dezeen.com/2019/03/19/mjostarne-worlds-tallest-timber-tower-voll-arkitekter-norway/One way to curb climate change: suck carbon from the sky - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/carbon-capture-trees-atmosphere-climate-change/Petra (originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. The site appeared in films such as: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,Arabian Nights, Passion in the Desert, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger,The Mummy Returns, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,Samsara and Kajraare.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (also known as Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) is a 2019 American epicspace opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Rise_of_SkywalkerFremen (a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FremenBene Gesserit (a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_GesseritDune (1984 American epicscience fiction adventure film written and directed by David Lynch and based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)The Chronicles of Narnia film series (The Chronicles of Narnia series of films is based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels by C. S. Lewis. From the seven books, three were adapted —The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(film_series)WHO: Coronavirus is now a public health emergency- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/coronavirus-who-declares-global-virus-emergencyBriton who contracted Wuhan virus claims he beat illness with this drink : hot toddy- https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1237119/coronavirus-cure-uk-symptoms-virus-wuhan-hot-toddy-whisky-honey Battlefield 2142 (2006 first-person shooter video game developed by EA DICE and published by Electronic Arts.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_2142Original Quake 1 Soundtrack by Trent Reznor- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVOHTGYoM6ELongest single spaceflight in history by a woman, NASA astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth.- https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/record-setting-nasa-astronaut-crewmates-return-from-space-stationJunkers Ju 87 (German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and served the Axis forces in World War II.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_87My Songs Suck (TNC Podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/mysongssuckpodNick Cave: Selected Works featuring Your Man Alex Smith from My Songs Suck- https://www.facebook.com/events/904564969910195/The Story Chunder (The Story Chunder at Back Dock Arts. Every week a new lot of cunning linguists will spew forth their most entertaining stories for your delight or disapproval.)- https://www.facebook.com/thestorychunder/Shout Outs - 31 January 2020 – Mary Higgins Clark died – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/books/mary-higgins-clark-dead.html?fbclid=IwAR1CCn7f-sSFWZavHhCCmJIuRNXPic-6SuB29yWK1_91B6sVUoLkbcZq-AgMary Higgins Clark, a fixture on best-seller lists for decades whose more than 50 novels earned her the sobriquet Queen of Suspense. Ms. Higgins Clark, whose books have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone, was still writing until recently, her daughter said, and had a book published in November. Her heroes were most often female, her villains male, and she said that she wrote about “nice people whose lives are invaded.” There are, however, two things that won’t be found in her books — sex and profanity — and that choice was deliberate. “Let others decide whether or not I’m a good writer,” she said. “I know I’m a good Irish storyteller.” She passed away at Naples, Florida at the age of 92. - 3 February 1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. - https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/feb-3-1995-astronaut-eileen-collins-at-the-pilots-station-on-shuttle-discoveryEileen M. Collins -- the first woman to pilot the shuttle -- is at the pilot's station during a "hotfiring" procedure prior to rendezvous with the Russian Mir Space Station. The successful rendezvous without docking brought Discovery to within 37 feet of the Mir; these flights through the Shuttle-Mir Program prepared the way for the International Space Station.- 3 Febuary 2020 – Supernova 2020 coming to Adelaide - https://twitter.com/SupanovaExpo/status/1224125683351183360?s=20Supanova will indeed be returning to Adelaide in 2020! After popular demand from the fans Supanova is going back to basics to bring a show that focuses predominantly on our Supa-Stars, and less on the extras that haven’t resonated as well with fans in S.A. Their return to Adelaide also sees a change to the scheduling of our Brisbane show, which will now run from 6-8 November 2020, with Adelaide the following weekend.- 3 February 2020 – Gene Reynolds passes away - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gene-reynolds-dead-mash-lou-grant-director-producer-was-96-978156 Gene Reynolds, the prolific director, producer and writer who was a driving force behind such socially conscious television series as M*A*S*H, Lou Grant and Room 222. Reynolds started out in Hollywood as a child actor at MGM in such movies as Boys Town (1938). Reynolds and Larry Gelbart created CBS' M*A*S*H, which was based on a novel by Richard Hooker and followed the Robert Altman film adaptation. "In directing, I'm always looking for the little humane touch. Something that is real. It could be very, very small," Reynolds said in a 2000 chat for the Archive of American Television website. "It could be a hand on the shoulder. It could be just an extra lingering look on somebody you care about and so forth, for just a fraction. It could be a reaction from somebody … I'm looking for humanity, really. And that goes with comedy or drama." He died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank at the age of 96. - 5 February 2020 – Kirk Douglas passes away - https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/entertainment/kirk-douglas-obit/index.htmlKirk Douglas, one of the great Hollywood leading men whose off-screen life was nearly as colorful as his on-screen exploits in movies like "Spartacus" and "Champion,". Michael Douglas said that his father's life "was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet." He added: "Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday, and which will always remain true. Dad- I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son." In perhaps the most famous -- and certainly most lampooned -- scene from "Spartacus," his fellow rebels, captured by the Roman army, rise to proclaim, "I'm Spartacus!" when told their lives will be spared if they identify him. He died in Beverly hills, California at the age of 103. Remembrances- 3 February 1468 – Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_GutenbergGerman blacksmith, goldsmith, inventor, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe with the printing press. His introduction of mechanical movable type printing to Europe started the Printing Revolution and is regarded as a milestone of the second millennium, ushering in the modern period of human history. It played a key role in the development of the Renaissance,Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses. The use of movable type was a marked improvement on the handwritten manuscript, which was the existing method of book production in Europe, and upon woodblock printing, and revolutionized European book-making. Gutenberg's printing technology spread rapidly throughout Europe and later the world. His major work, the Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible), was the first printed version of the Bible and has been acclaimed for its high aesthetic and technical quality. He died at the age of around 68 in Mainz, Electorate of Mainz in the Holy Roman Empire. - 3 February 1935 – Hugo Junkers - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_JunkersGerman aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works), was one of the mainstays of the German aircraft industry in the years between World War I and World War II. His multi-engined, all-metal passenger- and freight planes helped establish airlines in Germany and around the world. In addition to aircraft, Junkers also built both diesel and petrol engines and held various thermodynamic and metallurgical patents. He died at the age of 76 in Gauting,Bavaria.- 3 February 1959 – The Day Music Died -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie". Soon after take-off, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield. Everyone on board was killed. The event has since been mentioned in various songs and films. A number of monuments have been erected at the crash site and in Clear Lake, where an annual memorial concert is also held at the Surf Ballroom, the venue that hosted the artists' last performance. Famous Birthdays- 3 February 1480 – Ferdinand Magellan - https://www.onthisday.com/people/ferdinand-magellan Portuguese explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano. Commanding a fleet of five vessels, he headed south through the Atlantic Ocean to Patagonia. Despite a series of storms and mutinies, they made it through the Strait of Magellan into a body of water he named the "peaceful sea" (the modern Pacific Ocean). The expedition reached the Philippine islands, where Magellan was killed during the Battle of Mactan. The expedition later reached the Spice Islands in 1521 and one of the surviving ships eventually returned home via the Indian Ocean, completing the first circuit of the globe. Magellan had already reached the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia on previous voyages traveling east (from 1505 to 1511–1512). By visiting this area again but now travelling west, Magellan achieved a nearly complete personal circumnavigation of the globe for the first time in history. He was born in Sabrosa. - 3 February 1859 – Hugo Junkers – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_JunkersGerman aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. Amongst the highlights of his career were the Junkers J 1 of 1915, the world's first practical all-metal aircraft, incorporating a cantilever wing design with virtually no external bracing, theJunkers F 13 of 1919 (the world's first all-metal passenger aircraft), the Junkers W 33 (which made the first successful heavier-than-air east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic Ocean), the Junkers G.38 "flying wing", and the Junkers Ju 52, affectionately nicknamed "Tante Ju", one of the most famous airliners of the 1930s. He was born in Rheydt, Rhine Province. - 3 February 1939 – Vladimir Yevgenyevich Preobrazhensky – http://www.astronautix.com/p/preobrazhensky.html Russian engineer cosmonaut 1965-1980. Graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute Soviet Air Force, liaising with aircraft industrial enterprises. Cosmonaut training November 1965 - December 1967. Worked at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He was born in Leningrad. - 3 February 1970 – Warwick Davis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_DavisEnglish actor, television presenter, writer, director, comedian and producer.[4] He played the title characters in Willow and the Leprechaun film series, several characters in the Star Wars franchise (most notably the Ewok Wicket), and Professor Filius Flitwick and Griphook in the Harry Potter films. Davis also starred as a fictionalised version of himself in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Davis is a founder of the Reduced Height Theatre Company, which stages theatrical productions cast exclusively with short actors and using reduced height sets. In April 2010, Davis published his autobiography, Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life and Career of Warwick Davis, with a foreword by George Lucas. He was born in Epsom,Surrey.Events of Interest - 3 February 1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC's command post. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Looking_GlassIt provides command and control of U.S. nuclear forces in the event that ground-based command centers have been destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable. In such an event, the general officer aboard the Looking Glass serves as the Airborne Emergency Action Officer (AEAO) and by law assumes the authority of the National Command Authority and could command execution of nuclear attacks. The AEAO is supported by a battle staff of approximately 20 people, with another dozen responsible for the operation of the aircraft systems. The name Looking Glass, which is another name for a mirror, was chosen for the Airborne Command Post because the mission operates in parallel with the underground command post at Offutt Air Force Base. The Looking Glass was also designed to help ensure COG, continuity and reconstitution of the US government in the event of a nuclear attack on North America. Although the two types of aircraft are distinct, the Doomsday Plane nickname is also frequently associated with the E-4 "Nightwatch" Advanced Airborne Command Post mission and aircraft.- 3 February 1966 – Lunik 9 lands on lunar surface - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lunik-9-soft-lands-on-lunar-surfaceOn February 3, 1966, the Soviet Union accomplishes the first controlled landing on the moon, when the unmanned spacecraft Lunik 9 touches down on the Ocean of Storms. After its soft landing, the circular capsule opened like a flower, deploying its antennas, and began transmitting photographs and television images back to Earth. - 3 February 1981 - John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth. - http://thebusterclan.blogspot.com/2016/08/john-e-buster-doctor-that-helped-create.html In the procedure, an embryo that was just beginning to develop was transferred from the woman in whom it had been conceived by artificial insemination to another woman who gave birth to the infant 38 weeks later. The sperm used in the artificial insemination came from the husband of the woman who bore the baby. This scientific breakthrough established standards and became an agent of change for women suffering from the afflictions of infertility and for women who did not want to pass on genetic disorders to their children. Donor embryo transfer has given women a mechanism to become pregnant and give birth to a child that will contain their husband’s genetic makeup. Although donor embryo transfer as practiced today has evolved from the original non-surgical method, it now accounts for approximately 10% of in vitro fertilization recorded births.IntroArtist – Goblins from MarsSong Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ Follow us on Facebook - Page - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/ - Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/440485136816406/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamated Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrS iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094 RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rssInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/nerds_amalgamated/General Enquiries Email - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.comRate & Review us on Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/nerds-amalgamated-623195

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll read the opening to "The Swiss Family Robinson", a novel by Johann David Wyss, about a Swiss family shipwrecked in the East Indies en route to Australia. Wyss, a Swiss pastor, originally wrote this book to entertain and instruct his four sons. Years later, one of his sons, persuaded his father to allow him to complete and edit the unfinished manuscript. It was published in Zurich in 1812. -- 'M'Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snoozecast)

The Cygnet now had a fleet of three ships, and were prepared to terrorize the East Indies. However, foul weather and internal tensions conspired to create very real problems.

We're setting out with the crew of the Pirate ship Cygnet on their first real cruise in the East Indies. Their first weeks proved to be a productive time, but they ran into certain complications that they did not foresee.

'The Fleshpots of Asia' was a stereotype held for many years. The roots of that phrase and that stereotype come largely from the experiences of those who visited the East Indies during the Colonial Era, and had experiences similar to those that we will be exploring today.

Have you ever tried drying flowers? Successfully drying one of your favorite flowers is such a joy. Some flowers actually look even better when they are dried. There are many options for drying flowers; air drying is the simplest. Then, of course, there's pressing. If you've never tried sand drying a bloom, you should give it a shot. Just fill a microwave-safe container with a layer of silica sand. Put the bloom on top of the sand and then bury the bloom in sand. Place the bloom along with a cup of water in the microwave. Heat in microwave in 30 second increments. Your flower should be dried in 2-3 minutes.     Brevities   #OTD On this day in 1842, Asa Gray arrived at Harvard. He didn't have to start teaching until the following spring. Gray wasn't a great speaker, but he was respected by his peers and his students for his knowledge.      #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of the physician and botanist Hugh Algernon Weddell who died on this day in 1877.   Weddell specialized in South American flora and he collected specimens there for five years. Before he left Paris, Weddell was asked to look into the Cinchona, or "fever bark" tree. Cinchona is the source of quinine. Weddell did the job. He found multiple regions where the tree grew. In addition, he  discovered fifteen species of the genus Cinchona (Rubiaceae). Weddell returned to Paris with the seeds and they were germinated in the botanical garden there. Weddell's seeds helped establish the Cinchona forests that were brought to Java and other islands in the East Indies.     #OTD It's the birthday of Cornelius Herman ("Neil") Muller, the American botanist and ecologist, who was born on this day in 1909. Muller pioneered the study of allelopathy "uh·lee·luh·pa·thee." Allelopathy occurs when one plant species releases chemical compounds that affect another plant species. Most Gardeners know that the black walnut is an example of allelopathy. In addition to the leaves, black walnut trees store allopathic chemicals in their buds, in the hulls of the walnuts, and in their roots.   #OTD   Today in 1938, the St. Cloud Times ran a story about Miss Louise Klein Miller. Miller, at the age of 84, was retiring as supervisor of Cleveland's Memorial Gardens - after supervising them for over a quarter of a century.  The first woman to attend Cornell University's school of forestry, Miller became the landscape architect for Cleveland schools; she was the only female landscape architect working in a large city school system.  Collinwood is a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland. On Ash Wednesday, March 4, 1908 the Collinwood school fire became one of the country's biggest tragedies. The school had only two exits, the construction created a chimney effect; the school became a fire trap. Almost half of the children in the building died. In 1910, Louise Klein Miller planned the Memorial Gardens to honor the 172 children, 2 teachers and 1 rescuer who died in in the blaze. The year before, in 1909, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation that, "a memorial should stand in perpetuity to honor those who lost their lives in this school fire tragedy.”  The memorial is comprised of a large square planting bed is rimmed 3.5 foot walls made of concrete that are tiled.  The plantable area of the memorial measures roughly 20’ x 40’.  There's also a deep bench around the perimeter and the walls are slanted to make seating more comfortable. The down side, is that the bench and the scale of the raised bed make access to the planting area is sometimes very challenging.  During Miller's era, students grew flowers in a school greenhouse for the Memorial. Over the span of 70 years, the garden fell into neglect. 2018 was the 110th Anniversary of the Collinwood School Fire; there have been a few attempts to make sure the that garden continues to be a meaningful memorial.  The struggle to maintain the Memorial continues. In July of 1910, there was an article in the Santa Cruz newspaper that described the new memorial garden - which at the time included a large lily pond: "There was a poet who said he sometimes thought that never blows so red the rose as where some buried Caesar bled; That every hyacinth the garden wears, drops in her lap from some once lovely head. Then there will never be lilies so fair as those that will bloom in the lily pond that is to be on the site of the Collinwood school."   Unearthed Words   "Our fear of death is like our fear that summer will be short, but when we have had our swing of pleasure, our fill of fruit, and our swelter of heat, we say we have had our day."   -  Ralph Waldo Emerson     Today's book recommendation: Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds by Victoria Summerley This gorgeous book features 20 special British gardens and people who own and manage them.  The book is photographed by Hugo Rittson-Thomas and written by Victoria Summerley, both of whom live in this part of England. Their combined knowledge and love of these gardens shines through in their depictions of each garden and the families blessed to call them part of their home. Beginning with the book cover, the pictures are gorgeous and the garden stories include their fascinating pasts as well as the recent story of the each property. This is a lovely book.   Today's Garden Chore Prepare a spot in your garden shed, garage, pantry, or kitchen for drying flowers.   Repurpose  pot rack or do something simple like string some twine between some eye hooks. Sometimes just creating a space can inspire you to take some cuttings and bring beautiful blooms indoors. One of my favorite pictures from my garden is a simple row of hydrangea cuttings drying upside down in my kitchen. Bliss.   Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart   While researching Louise Klein Miller, I ran across a delightful story about her time teaching horticulture:   Miller had been telling a crowd of pupils about the different insects that arrack plants, and warned them especially against the malevolent San Jose scale. She suggested that they go to tho school library and get a book about it and read of Its habits and the remedy for checking its career. One young woman went to the librarian the next morning, and said she wanted something about the San Jose scale. Without even looking up from her desk, the Librarian said, "Go to the music department."      Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

This is sort of a time hopping adventure. We're looking at William Dampier in the East Indies alongside the story of Ferdinand Magellan. It kind of weird, but as an introduction to the Pacific we couldn't ask for better guides.

When William Dampier arrived in the East Indies he found a world that had been forever altered by contact with Europeans. Today we talk about the voyages that initiated that contact. Those voyages would shape the political and economic face of the globe for centuries. I attempt to lighten the mood with really bad jokes.

In our last +1, we talked about Professor Harari’s two world maps—one before The Scientific Revolution that was all filled in (including areas they knew NOTHING about) and one after that had plenty of empty spaces (accounting for all they things they didn’t know).    Then we talked about YOUR maps. And, hopefully, we all added a good deal more empty space in our maps—especially that space outside our comfort zones that leads to the unknowable zone of our infinite potential.   Today I want to chat about the importance of running our own scientific experiments. Of course, admitting our ignorance is an absolutely essential first step to gaining new knowledge. But, then we’ve gotta throw on our lab coats and get to work!   Before we go there though, how about another quick little history lesson?    So, we all know that Christopher Columbus “discovered” the continent that became known as America. But... He refused to believe it. When he landed on the Bahamas he thought he had discovered islands en route to East Asia. As Professor Harari puts it: “He called the people he found there ‘Indians’ because he thought he had landed in the Indies—what we now call the East Indies or the Indonesian archipelago. Columbus stuck to this error for the rest of his life. The idea that he had discovered a completely unknown continent was inconceivable for him and for many of his generation.”   Then, get this: America was mistakenly named by map-maker Martin Waldseemüller who thought explorer Amerigo Vespucci discovered it. As Harari says, “There is poetic justice in the fact that a quarter of the world, and two of its seven continents, are named after a little-known Italian whose sole claim to fame is that he had the courage to say, ‘We don’t know.’”   Alright. Back to the Scientific Optimizing.   Today’s +1.    Let’s throw on our lab coats and goggles and grab our clipboards. It’s time to run some experiments.    In fact, let’s follow Ralph Waldo Emerson’s wisdom and make EVERYTHING an experiment.   btw: My hunch is you’re familiar with this quote: “All life is an experiment. The more experiments the better.”   The full passage is even better. As Ralph says: “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.”   So, my dear Scientifically-Experimenting-Ignoramus-Optimizer friend: What experiments have YOU run lately?   Let’s measure our little (and big) tests as objectively as we can—making the connection between the mundane things like “When I eat that, my nose gets stuffy” and “When I’m online late at night I sleep poorly and that diminishes my energy and optimism which makes me grumpy which slows down my actualization” to... Whatever else you need to shine the light of ignorance on!   Then, of course, we need to take that data and APPLY it to our lives. As Harari points out, it’s APPLIED scientific knowledge that leads to power.    We can only gain new power by moving from *theory* to PRACTICE.    So, my dear Scientifically-Experimenting-Ignoramus-Optimizer friend: What data have you gotten from recent experiments and, most importantly, how will you apply that knowledge to your life TODAY?   Here’s to your lab coat and clipboard. And don’t forget the goggles.

In our last +1, we talked about Professor Harari’s two world maps—one before The Scientific Revolution that was all filled in (including areas they knew NOTHING about) and one after that had plenty of empty spaces (accounting for all they things they didn’t know).    Then we talked about YOUR maps. And, hopefully, we all added a good deal more empty space in our maps—especially that space outside our comfort zones that leads to the unknowable zone of our infinite potential.   Today I want to chat about the importance of running our own scientific experiments. Of course, admitting our ignorance is an absolutely essential first step to gaining new knowledge. But, then we’ve gotta throw on our lab coats and get to work!   Before we go there though, how about another quick little history lesson?    So, we all know that Christopher Columbus “discovered” the continent that became known as America. But... He refused to believe it. When he landed on the Bahamas he thought he had discovered islands en route to East Asia. As Professor Harari puts it: “He called the people he found there ‘Indians’ because he thought he had landed in the Indies—what we now call the East Indies or the Indonesian archipelago. Columbus stuck to this error for the rest of his life. The idea that he had discovered a completely unknown continent was inconceivable for him and for many of his generation.”   Then, get this: America was mistakenly named by map-maker Martin Waldseemüller who thought explorer Amerigo Vespucci discovered it. As Harari says, “There is poetic justice in the fact that a quarter of the world, and two of its seven continents, are named after a little-known Italian whose sole claim to fame is that he had the courage to say, ‘We don’t know.’”   Alright. Back to the Scientific Optimizing.   Today’s +1.    Let’s throw on our lab coats and goggles and grab our clipboards. It’s time to run some experiments.    In fact, let’s follow Ralph Waldo Emerson’s wisdom and make EVERYTHING an experiment.   btw: My hunch is you’re familiar with this quote: “All life is an experiment. The more experiments the better.”   The full passage is even better. As Ralph says: “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.”   So, my dear Scientifically-Experimenting-Ignoramus-Optimizer friend: What experiments have YOU run lately?   Let’s measure our little (and big) tests as objectively as we can—making the connection between the mundane things like “When I eat that, my nose gets stuffy” and “When I’m online late at night I sleep poorly and that diminishes my energy and optimism which makes me grumpy which slows down my actualization” to... Whatever else you need to shine the light of ignorance on!   Then, of course, we need to take that data and APPLY it to our lives. As Harari points out, it’s APPLIED scientific knowledge that leads to power.    We can only gain new power by moving from *theory* to PRACTICE.    So, my dear Scientifically-Experimenting-Ignoramus-Optimizer friend: What data have you gotten from recent experiments and, most importantly, how will you apply that knowledge to your life TODAY?   Here’s to your lab coat and clipboard. And don’t forget the goggles.

So maybe the Iroquois Nationals are not going to Israel after all. Good! That is the buzz anyway. I guess we'll see. I was asked about my thoughts on George Carlin's view on "Indians." Well, let's just say that this isn't his best work. I put to rest this whole "in dios" BS. Columbus was an ass and a terrible navigator and yes, he thought we were "Indians" in the East Indies.

Finally, it’s the follow-up to our first sea monsters episode that sounds so terrible now that I know how to put a podcast together! Here’s the published drawings of a strange animal seen from the HMS Daedalus: Here’s Drummond’s sketch of what he saw: Here’s a sketch of the HMS Plumper animal sighted: And here's a sei whale rostrum sticking up out of the water while it's skim feeding: Sei whales are neat and have gigantic mouths: The rotten "sea serpent" that's actually a decomposing baleen whale: The Naden Harbour Carcass. It's the black thing on the table with a white backdrop. It doesn't look like much, but you probably wouldn't look like much either after being eaten by a sperm whale: Unexpected seal says "Hello, I am not a sea serpent, I am a stock photo": Hagelund's sketch of the little animal he caught: A pipefish with a lollipop tail and some drawings of pipefish: The strange animal seen from the Valhalla: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. Recently I listened to episode six, about sea monsters. It’s climbed to our third most popular episode and when I heard it again, oh man, I winced. I was still really new to podcasting then and that episode sounds like someone reading a book report out loud to the class. So it’s time to do a new sea monsters episode and explore more mysteries of the world’s oceans, hopefully with a lot more vocal expression. On August 6, 1848, about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the captain and some of the crew of HMS Daedalus saw something really big in the water. The ship was sailing between the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena on the way back to England from the East Indies. It was an overcast day with a fresh wind, but nothing unusual. The midshipman noticed something in the water he couldn’t identify and told the officer of the watch, who happened to be walking the deck at the time with the captain. Most of the crew was at supper. This is what the captain, Peter M’Quhae, described in his report when the ship arrived at Plymouth a few months later. “On our attention being called to the object, it was discovered to be an enormous serpent, with head and shoulders kept about four feet constantly above the surface of the sea, and, as nearly as we could approximate, by comparing it with the length of what our main-topsail yard would show in the water, there was at the very least sixty feet of the animal à fleur d’eau [that means at the water’s surface], no portion of which was, to our perception, used in propelling it through the water, either by vertical or horizontal undulation. It passed rapidly, but so close under our lee quarter, that had it been a man of my acquaintance, I should easily have recognized his features with the naked eye; and it did not, either in approaching the ship or after it had passed in our wake, deviate in the slightest degree from its course to the S.W., which it held on at the pace of from twelve to fifteen miles per hour, apparently on some determined purpose. “The diameter of the serpent was about fifteen or sixteen inches behind the head, which was, without any doubt, that of a snake; and it was never, during the twenty minutes that it continued in sight of our glasses, once below the surface of the water; its colour a dark brown, with yellowish white about the throat. It had no fins, but something like a mane of a horse, or rather a bunch of seaweed, washed about its back.” The original Times article also mentioned large jagged teeth in a jaw so large that a man could have stood up inside the mouth, but this seems to be an addition by the article’s writer, not the captain or crew. The officer of the watch, Lieutenant Edgar Drummond, also published an excerpt from his own journal about the sighting, which appeared in a journal called the Zoologist in December 1848. It reads, “In the 4 to 6 watch, at about five o’clock,

After years of relative quiet a secret gathering of the West Indies' most notorious pirates convened at Negril Bay, Jamaica. The Captains and crew met to embark on a daring and dangerous voyage that would make them wanted men from Port Royal to Portobelo, and from the East Indies to London.

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On the island of Sumbawa, in what is now Indonesia but was previously called the East Indies, there is a collapsed, sunken shell of a volcano that was once a mighty peak taller than Mt. Fuji in Japan. On a warm spring night in 1815 this mountain, Tambora, exploded with a force so powerful that it can scarcely be measured in terms intelligible to humans. In addition to being an environmental disaster of staggering proportions that killed over 100,000 people and changed the world’s climate, the eruption of Mt. Tambora occurred at an unusual moment of transition for the people of the East Indies. The British, having brieftly wrested the spice-rich Indies from the control of French-allied Holland during the Napoleonic Wars, were struggling to leave a permanent political and strategic mark on the islands before returning them to Dutch rule. Lost in the geopolitical shuffle for colonial possessions were the people of the islands themselves, at once opaque to history but who also left behind haunting clues of their lives that were cut short by this incredible disaster. Armed with numerous eyewitness accounts of the Tambora disaster and its aftermath, Sean Munger tries to put you on the ground at the epicenter of one of the most dramatic and powerful events in environmental history. Additionally, you’ll get a taste of old-school European colonialism in Southeast Asia, a profile of British Java’s quirky governor Thomas Stamford Raffles, and a look at the hidden history that was buried ten feet under volcanic rock and only rediscovered in the 21st century. Subscribers to Sean’s Patreon campaign will get access to a members-only video, a companion piece to this episode, that explains why Tambora is much less well-known than the similar 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, and how the two disasters are linked. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices